Ordinary
by Beautiful Phantom
Summary: Ordinary, defined as what is normal or natural. Though she wasn't sure what that word even supposed to be anymore. Ordinary was a word she could only long for.
1. 00: Lost and Found

Prologue: Lost and Found

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Warning! This chapter is a very long read! It is a 9k monster, so please do take breaks if you need it. :) There will be mild mentions of blood and gore inside this chapter. Please be aware of the Mature rating. Thank you!

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A faint smell of rotting wood and old earth dirt wafted to her dead senses. Her skin felt dry and heavy, much like stretched, neglected leather. There were something crunching outside, the sounds fading in farther distance. Outside? Where was she? She didn't know, but it was dark. She knew it was dark. It pressed hard into her mind, making it difficult to miss.

And it was also cramped. Her naked feet brushed across splintered wood, and limp hands bumped into more walls. She found herself curled into a loose ball, so she could breathe a little more freely in a tiny, neglected, ash-blanketed space. Dirt, haven't had any moisture in what must be decades, felt like hard shards and grains of broken glass jabbing and grinding hard into her body, making it uncomfortable and painful to lay on long.

Her muscles, sore, twitched alive when more dust rained on her skin, and she inhaled too deeply. Dust, awful sandy flavor dancing and rubbing across her dehydrated tongue and scratching past the roof of her mouth, caught in her throat and she choked and wheezed. Between her coughing she stopped whimpers at the back of her tongue from echoing out, but couldn't prevent her body from trembling, her bones feeling brittle. Her torso felt...ragged, weighed with unknown burdens and fat with gaping wounds that hardly bled at all.

She didn't remember pushing herself off the tiny patch of dried old earth with clumped dirt and what felt like hard, sharp rocks that was shaped strangely, but she did. She thumped and rubbed her sensitive back against the wood, pulling a wince from her, with splinters catching her clothes. Muffling her whimpers with a ruined bellowing sleeve, her eyes caught some small lights, barely there and dimmed. She looked up. Those grey-blue eyes shrunk at the sight of crisscrossing debris of long woods and large gravels that narrowly missed her death stopping mere inches before her head, her mind turning into a chaos of panicking thoughts. How would she get out of this tiny hellhole? How, how, _how?!_

She felt so utterly weak, but her instincts were scrambling for her to survive, to _live_. So, she _pushed_. After two miserable attempts, her knees and thighs growing black with bruises, she finally stood on her feet. Reaching up her scrawny, stick arms, with the dirty white sleeves falling into huge bag of cloths at her armpits, she _pushed_ and _pulled_ her way through. Her arms took on small pieces of the rubble within her wounds, sticking out of the fleshy red. She fought to stop herself from crying, to pay her injuries no mind when her pain receptors screamed with offenses at her boldness. Her inky black hair was gray with spilling dust and her skin, already so pale, was paler with a thick layer of it.

Her face took on a mask of dirt, her eyelashes were colored ashen, blurring her wet sight. She blinked them away, her hands too busy to rid the dusts sitting at her eyes, as her determination was too strong to let herself die needlessly.

She grabbed a hold of a huge piece of a wooden board, smack right down the middle among the mess. With a clumsy grip, she tugged. Hard.

Booming sounds of collapsing debris were deafening, blindsiding her. It happened so quickly she didn't have time to shield her own body from being impaled except to squeeze her eyes shut and prayed to all the gods above to give her some mercy and a quick, fair death she thought she deserved.

But, her heart still pounded. Her wounds still throbbed with blood dribbling at every heartbeat. Air rushed out of her nostrils and her lungs inflating with returning oxygen, in a never-ending cycle of breathing. She was expecting a violent death would be suffocating, soul-splitting painful yet brief, but...

Her eyes, bleary, peeled opened, and saw the rubble at her feet.

Not one debris touched her, not even on her bare feet. All jutted away from her, sticking close to the wall, as if to avoid her entirely. She looked up.

The sky, gray with heavy clouds with no sun to be seen, was a welcome sight, if not foreign and carried a sense of foreboding of sad, awful things ahead. There was nothing she could see, but the fat, pregnant clouds floating by happily.

A strangled word wormed its way out of her throat, "H-how...?" How did she survive?

Something inside of her urged her to hurry out of this hellhole. She didn't dare to be deaf to it. Gulping, she surveyed the well and saw nothing but rubble. If there was a ladder, there wasn't one now.

 _Why would anyone put a ladder in an empty well?_ Why did she expect one here?

The urgent demand grew stronger, and she discarded the puzzling thought in favor of living.

Seeing no other way she pressed a foot on a board, and winced when it wobbled under her weight. Grabbing the walls, she slowly, but surely in a snail pace crawl, made her way higher to the mouth of the deep man-made hole. Alternatively switching her feet to another piece of debris, it creaked underneath her feet. With a yelp she drove her nails into the walls, from desperation to keep herself from falling.

A slow agonizing minute passed, before the board became still and stable for her to continue on. Her nails were skewed from her sudden action, dibbling blood spots across the mess underneath her soles. She bit her lips, combating the crying growing from her belly. Just one pain after another...

Unfortunately for her the debris stopped several feet below the opening, leaving her stuck. But, she thought she could reach her exit and pull herself out of the hell-trap. There were only several more inches above her, she could reach it on her toes.

...Provided that the rubble didn't collapse before she could edge her way out.

A nervous inhalation for a courageous breath, she flailed her bloodied fingers to the sharp corner of the wood, desperate for a good grip. A moaning creak crooked her feet, and her breath caught in her lungs, trying to keep her movement at minimal. The blood didn't help grabbing a grip any easier, and she cursed for it. The moan grew louder, nettled by her mere presence. The rubble began to cave again.

The corner of the wooden month bit into her palms, and she forced every last bit of her strength she still had, and strained her lithe body out. Her feet dangled off the debris, just as it fell to yet another loud boom. It triggered something inside of her, and next thing she knew, she fell face flat on more ground. Much softer dirt, at that she was relieved. Her fingers fisted the earth, fighting the trembles of the quiet fear pounding its way inside her heart.

Whatever courage she had left, it stopped her sobbing at her tonsils. She could feel it bubbling, but it didn't dare to leave. Not when the urgency became stronger than ever. Her mind's eye felt nothing but one dimming presence a mile away from where she was. How could that be? She didn't understand why or how she knew there were no life outside of that one. And that sole life is dying.

She breathed again, to calm her exploding brain from erratic confusion of words and strange commands of her emotions. The air carried no dust to assault her poor lungs with, but it was rich with death.

She didn't want to open her eyes. Her shoulders shook. The courage faltered when one sob ran from her too-wet mouth.

But, she need to _move_. The instinct wouldn't let her stay defeated to her swelling grief she didn't understand. So, she lifted her head, black hair, still stained with dust, fell over her shoulders, almost to shield her eyes from dreadful sights.

Everything she saw was charred and in piles of rubble. Feeling lightweight, she thought for several seconds that she had become a ghost and floated restlessly away from the pile of woods, to what was once her own home. Boulders of former walls and roof strewn across the stone floor-or now large pieces of gravels she didn't realize she was so careful stepping over large cracks.

The once-large house looked like something very large had dropped their weight on it and punched it very thoroughly and stomped away with little recession, almost like a child throwing a tantrum and stormed away when they failed to get what they wanted.

It was then that she knew she wasn't dead when she saw a large pool of scarlet colored fluid was leaking out from what must once be the front door, and dripped over some debris.

She didn't know she let out a loud wail. Her eyes were spewing heavy tears and her nose damp. She didn't know her feet carried her away from her dead brother's invisible body nor had she jumped so gracefully over large cracks and holes among the stairs with too many steps. Or that she kept running and running until she stopped when she heard wheezing gasps of air and weak pleas.

It was those heart-rending sounds that stopped her grieving, even if it was only for a short moment. The urgency she felt pulled her closer.

It was that one life dimming away, threatening to be gone forever, unless she interfered somehow.

Among the heaps of twisted cars, halved buildings, scattered black capstones, and too big holes, within one intersection he was there. His bottom half of his body was underneath a large piece of asphalt, with rich blood flooding from there. She choked. That little noise pulled his attention toward her, his head, with his chin was roughly scarred by the road, weakly turned to her with pained golden eyes. With one arm mangled, he could only pushed his free hand few centimeters toward her and whispered, "...don't want to...die."

She flinched, but her feet flew across the scrambled road.

"Please...don't _let_ me die." He sobbed, "I don't _want-_ " a gasp, and more of his lifeblood spewed from his choking mouth. His hand went lax, when tears trailed from his eyes.

Thudding her knees painfully onto the hard concrete before the poor boy, she grabbed the arm and shrunk her broken nails into his so white skin, his skin that was too cold, "You will live!" She barked, sobs choking her alive, "Live, you bastard!" Her screaming command jolted that one last bit of stubbornness into him, and he grabbed the hands that held on to him so tightly.

His grip was weak, but he was trying. His desperate eyes gazed deep into her own, and he choked. He was trying to say something, but couldn't. "Save your words!" She cried, and she scanned around wildly, "Anyone?! Please help!" She never let go of the boy who she was certain she knew the name of.

Genos.

That's right. His name was Genos, wasn't it?

A long timed neighbor with beautiful golden hair (now streaked and matted red), and sweeter than her mama's homemade daifuku but with a streak of stubbornness that nearly outranked her own.

No. _No. She would not let him die, dammit!_

"Help! Help! Anyone!" She didn't know why she was so sure there was only one life left in this doomed city earlier, but her voice got away from her. The echoes of her cries were loud in her ears, but she continued, her hold on the boy never once loosened.

A soft tug ended her pleas and she looked down, her big tears made a clean pathway of dirt on her dirty face, with Genos smiling. He was smiling so painfully, yet it was so serene, even with blood ruining his handsome face. He struggled to raise his hand, the very tips of his fingers gazed across her jawline, "han- _thank...you._ " At that his hand fell.

She grabbed that hand, his words struck her silent. Her face slowly morphed into something else.

And she shrieked, scattering the silence of the death.

It was from her screaming that the old man appeared at the bend of a building, his face ashen and damp and he was gasping for air, "Please, dear gods, don't let me be too _late_ again!" He was an odd looking man, with odder hairstyle and a long, large nose, but she failed to regard much beyond that.

She already lost so much. His torso gathered in her arms, and she wept heavily over the boy named Genos.

The old man shoved her away, though he didn't look like he had intended to handle her so roughly. Before she could roar some choice words for him, he barked, unhanding a strap of his fairly large backpack, "Move, young lady! There's a chance he can still yet to be saved!" Clicking something inside that strap, robot arms branched out from the backpack, whirring with life.

She fell backward, gravel jabbing her in her rear, but she didn't feel anything from it. Her attention was caught by these arms, not knowing what she was supposed to feel, heaving away the boulder that trapped and killed the boy. It fell far away with a loud crash, crushing a remnant of a former building into thousands of smaller pieces in a loud crunching. But the old man didn't acknowledge it, instead keeping his focus on clicking away on some small device in his frail hands.

With a series of noisy clicking, these robot arms purged themselves into the still body of Genos. "What are you doing?!" She was outraged at the disrespect of the newly dead, jetting herself off the ground and slammed herself into the old man-or at least, she tried to. One remaining arm stopped her, wrapping itself around her waist and picked her off the ground.

The old man wasn't phased at all by her actions, he looked up to her with his face grim, "I'm saving him the only way I know how." He gestured to his spidery machine appendages, "These things are my own invention, meant to be used for life saving situations. They will keep his heart beating," one was needled inside his chest, right where his heart was once beat and was thrusting into it with a bouncing motion, "keep his consciousness stable," a outspread hand-like fingers were grasping over Genos' forehead, "and to level out his blood loss," a thick red and white coiled arm was grasping at the stomach, where it was halved by the asphalt, and it swirled with a circular movement, "until I am able to take him to my lab and do what I can.."

At lasts she allowed a whimper escaping her lips, her body slacked against the steel appendage, bone tired, "But...he's _dead_."

"For less than a minute." The old man said, though he seemed to slump, "I just hope I didn't come too late for one individual..." He scanned around his surrounding, "I've found only you and the boy _alive_." Never mind that the boy wasn't. Removing his sad eyes from the boy, fieriness took over his tired expression, "I will not let any more lives to be lost to that damn cyborg if I can help it!"

She opened her mouth, "I-" She was interrupted.

A groan and weak gurgling just came from Genos, thought to be dead.

Pride lifted his mouth into a small smile, the old man nodded, "Ah, so he lives! Good." He pressed more buttons, and one additional arm slipped out from his backpack, much larger than its brethren. Before Genos, it flattened into some form of a metal cot and slid underneath his body inside the ground. It twitched, as if it was stretching itself further and pushed outwardly, peeling him away from the mangled ground. Genos' butchered arm, by all graces, was barely affected by the strange, sleek machinery.

She looked on, a little confused, but understanding its purpose. The old man saw, and nodded, "Yes, quite right. There's too much of a risk moving his body-even if it's not savable." All of the appendages never removed themselves from the boy, still whirring with life to keep him alive. They simply floated with the cot-like device and carried themselves with it.

"You must come with me. A familiar face would be good for your friend." The old man murmured, and with a quick glance at her bloody wounds, he added, "you could use some help too." though he didn't release her from the robot arm still grasping her tightly at her waist. But, being so tired and a little glad that Genos might still yet live, she didn't make a single peep. Dazed, she stared at Genos the rest of the way to wherever this lab was, and became deaf to the old man's worried muttering.

She didn't notice the change in the atmosphere, when the old man brought them to inside of some kind of vehicle and were brought a long way away from the doomed city. Nor had she realized she had been long since released from the robot arm and was dumped onto a cold bench and took attention from some helper bot with her injuries she barely felt at all.

It was only by the old man's insistence that she went to eat something and drink water that she saw where she was. A white place full of whirring machinery and computers. Genos was laid across a metal bed, his body encased inside a large dome of a black machine, with only his head outside of it. His head though wasn't free of these fancy devices either, having contained a mask with too many wires and tubes that hid his face from her view but his eyes.

He breathed still, which brought her a little joy in such a dark place she found herself to be in.

How long had she been sitting on that chair? She was already cleansed of her wounds and with them nicely wrapped with thick gauges, with a clean change of clothes. These clothes were pretty plain and a bit on thin side, but they felt much better than that odd, dirty priestess outfit she wore before.

With yet another sigh to add for that day, she resigned herself to wait, in the hopes that Genos would awaken soon.

A clank aroused her, and she looked to the door, the doctor-or who she thought was one- rolled in with one of his many handheld devices, "Oh, you're here again." He wasn't surprised by any means, though he smiled, "Though, it seems that your shock has lessened some. You were pretty out of it for the past few days. Haven't had a chance to get your name from you, let alone the boy you were with."

Was she really? For days? All she remembered were blurs. "My name is Kagome Hi-" Wait, what was her family name again? "...? I don't quite remember actually..."

The doctor blinked, "Must be the shock again," he murmured apologetically, "It will come to you soon enough, Miss Kagome." He swiped across a finger on the device, to perhaps put in her name, "I am Doctor Kuseno." He greeted himself politely, "May I have your friend's name?"

"Genos." She said without thinking twice, never removing her gaze from Genos' white face. He had such an odd name, but it fit him.

He quirked a brow at it, but he nodded. Seeing her dismayed face, his shoulders stooped and the doctor patted her arms softly, "He'll be fine child, just give him time to recover." The doctor's words were firm but there was something about the way he was staring at her companion that scared her so much she dragged her eyes away from the comatose Genos.

It was that sharpness of knowledge that told of an impeding doom—or unfortunate news. She wasn't sure how, but she saw the very air shifting around the older man, coiling tight of his body. If she had to explain it, it was like watching someone's very emotion take a physical form and twist to their very thoughts and whims.

The air swirled and twisted violently—frustration and concern. Her brows furrowed. How did she know that?

It only became clearer when she looked closer. When she stopped fearing for Genos' life.

Dr. Kuseno exhaled, "His body may not."

Everything came to a screeching halt, "What?!" She yelped, "But he's alive, isn't he?!"

The air of fierce determination became fixed, more solid, "I cannot and will not do anything he does not wish me to-but he will need to know he will be spending the rest of his life inside that machine." Dr. Kuseno turned his back, ignoring the wide-eyed horror etching within Kagome's face, "That's how damaged his body is. I cannot fix his spine. I cannot fix his organs he lost. There is little else I can do but to take the most drastic measures to ensure he will live his life as much as normally as possible." He clicked his fingers toward an idling, human-bodied robot among a busy wall, to emphasize his answer. He left, letting the automatic door to slid close after him.

Dr. Kuseno was glad not to see nor hear the emotions fleeing from the girl.

He spent his days drafting up a prototype for a human boy. It was obvious what the boy's answer will be, but his hands are tied until Genos could loosen them with his confirmation. Who would be a fool to choose living life inside a machine over walking among ordinary people with a body of a machine that looks like a human?

This latest project would be his first to make a cyborg to have a face of a human with functions just like a human. Dr. Kuseno had helped created hundreds of bodies for humans and the intelligent species, but he never attempted anything further than making the bodies simply functional. Simply a robot body with a human brain. He never bothered to entertain an idea of actually going far past that, thinking it impossible.

Having a body of the machine to be like a human? With eating capabilities? With a bowel movement? Why, _even_ feel emotions like a human? A cyborg with the capability of simulating sex and sexual functions?

Hah! As if his peers would have thought it possible.

But, their great deal of losses were of his blame. His own lack of action caused careless deaths from a scheming acquaintance of his-he just didn't know which one but he would make sure they would pay as well. That boy deserved so much more, than just to be a boy. He deserved to _live._

That girl made that clear, her eyes were bright with fondness and grief of this Genos.

With that in his mind in a looping repeat, Dr. Kuseno slaved for a scientific miracle for so many hours and days, waiting for the day Genos would wake from his coma. With only his little helper bots to keep him company and to remind him to take a much needed break, he didn't realize a week had gone by.

One of the little bots beeped and a message flashed across its glass belly that simply said: Genos?

"Yes, yes, you're right. I should check on him." Dr. Kuseno stretched, his legs sore from disuse. He found the girl just outside of the room Genos resided, upon a bench. It was clear she was far from well-rested, her face haggled from what must be the nightmares she had.

Kagome tucked her knees to her chin, her arms were wrapped around her legs with a dazed look at the entrance of Genos' room. She pulled her stare when she detected the doctor's movement and looked at him, her face an indescribable emotion. With a nod of acknowledgment Doctor Kuseno briskly entered the door she was scared to enter.

Feeling somewhat brave she followed.

He was scanning Genos' brain for activity for, already, the third time he had been in this room. His hands moved swiftly over the tools and his eyes removed from the scans and refocused on the blueprints drawn before him upon a cluttered table.

She inhaled shakily, seeing Genos brought little tears to her eyes, and forced herself away from him, "How long do you think it'll be before he wakes up?" Her question was left unanswered for a short moment.

He turned to look over at her, "That will depend on him. My creations will keep him alive but at this rate, I think it might be a few days more before he regains awareness." His dark eyes watched as her expression dropped.

"Oh."

His well-worn white lab coat swishing to his swift movement, he turned to give her a firm look.

"You should try talking to him."

Her eyes widened, "Would that really work?"

Doctor Kuseno rubbed his chin, "There's no way of really knowing, but he should be able to hear you." Her eyes drifted between him and her sleeping companion. Her hand twisted on the skin of her elbow, her lips reddened from the sudden compulsive need to chew. Images of his smiling face and blurred pictures of a cozy home faded in and out of her mind's eye. She could remember him, so obviously they had known each other from before. So why couldn't she recall anything else?

"Will you try?"

The air around the doctor swirled rapidly, almost violently—whipping her senses into a panic. Was this emotion one they called determination?

"I will!" She stated confidently, hoping against all hopes that he would wake soon.

The doctor smiled, "Then please do." With that he grabbed all of his papers and files and left her alone with Genos, who breathed still so shallowly in his little metal coffin.

At a loss she stared after Doctor Kuseno's back and the door that clicked close after him, what should she say? She couldn't remember much of anything about herself.

But it was worth a try.

"Hi, Genos, so um..." She dragged a chair closer to Genos, combing her hands through her hair in an attempt to tame it from the horrible sleep she had the night previous, "I'm not sure what to say, so I guess I will start with the basics. So, um," she lightly kicked her feet into the air, "Do you know that my favorite color is apple green?"

Or, she thought that was her favorite color. She wasn't sure, but that was the color that appeared in her head first. Kagome didn't think Genos needed to know about her amnesia. And she didn't want to remind Genos of the dire situation he was in.

"I miss eating home-cooked foods. Doctor doesn't have much but ramen here..." She rambled, grasping anything tangible to say, "But, I don't have anywhere else to go. I think, if he will let me, maybe I can cook for him and you?" Did she really know how to cook? Kagome wanted to say yes, but again she wasn't so certain.

"Oh, I wonder if there's any television here? Maybe he got Sailor Moon, or some anime channel." She rambled away, "Didn't you like Dragon Ball? Or maybe..." Kagome stopped thinking too hard on what to say, and allowed her mouth to do the talking.

The shallow breathing and small beeping from the surrounding machines and wires were her only company.

At some point, she fell asleep, her back bunched over the chair uncomfortably. Quickened beeping didn't jostle her, but wheezing words did, "Th-that looks," Kagome's face twisted in response, but her eyes remained close, "unnnncomfortable."

"Huh?" Kagome lifted a hand to rub her glued shut eyes, "what did you say, doctor?" Somehow her brain was convinced the unknown voice was that of Doctor Kuseno's.

"I, I _wish_ , but," another wheeze, the voice became crackly, "no. It, it's me, Ka- _go-go_ me."

Her eyes shot up and saw dreary, blackened golden eyes of Genos'. He smiled, though it was clear he had to force himself to, "So, you lik-like apple green color?"

Kagome didn't realize she was crying, attracting the attention of an idling bot, who by then alerted the doctor.

Doctor Kuseno stormed in, his mouth gaping with surprise, "Oh... _Oh!_ " He rushed to the machines showing the boy's vitals and blew out a heavy sigh of relief when he saw it functioning as normally as possible given Genos' condition, "Well, welcome to the waking world, my boy..." Throwing a secret glance to the girl, who was holding her hands on her mouth to muffle her sobs, he smiled at his patient with a touch of grim, "Hope your dreams weren't too bad."

Genos choked a chuckle, "I...I was lost for a lit-little while, but Kagome's vo-voice helped me find-find my way out."

The doctor wrote that in his mind and filed it away for later should he gain more patients in similar conditions, "Good, good! I'm glad she helped." And dourness stole his expression, "I'm sure you are...aware of the condition you are in, Genos?" He flickered his eyes to the metal machine that contained the boy's body. He ignored the whimper his words inspired from Kagome.

Genos coughed, "Yeah, it-it's kind o-of obvious." He didn't wish to look, plus the mask that grappled the lower half of his face sort of prevented him to, "Yo-you're the doc-doctor? Kag-Kagome mentioned you."

Doctor Kuseno smiled, a little flattered that Kagome thought enough to talk about him, "Yes. I'm here to help you...But, I need to know if you will be up for 20 Questions game." He patted on the clipboard-like device in his hands, "I do not wish to drain you anymore than it is. I am aware how much energy talking requires..."

He gulped and shuttered when he found even a simple motion was beyond uncomfortable, "I, I am up for it. I'v-ve been sleeping too much, s-so..." Genos looked like he shrugged, though it was impossible when his body was all but invisible.

"Good, good, I hope you don't mind," he turned to her, "Kagome," he patted her shoulder, and made a gesture toward the door, "you seem like you could use some food in your belly. Why don't you go eat?" A tall helper bot whirred to life at the doctor's command.

Seeing the silent request to give them some privacy, Kagome numbly nodded, "Oh, well," She met Genos' dull eyes, "oh-okay, I'll be back, okay Genos?" She smiled brilliantly and gave a short wave, before following the impatient robot out of the room.

When the door slammed close, the doctor gave another rush of air and he shot Genos a miserable look, "Genos, I do not wish to be the bearer of bad news, but," he glanced at the metal coffin, "your body cannot be saved."

Genos turned his sight to the wire-covered ceiling, "I...I see..."

"But!" Genos blinked and turned to look at the doctor again, "you can still _live_. Perhaps not like you once were, but you can still have a body."

"I-I thought you said ma-my body can-cannot be saved?" He inquired, curious and a touch of confusion that hurt his dazed head a little more than it should.

Doctor Kuseno shook his head, "Not _your_ body, Genos. I can make you a body, and," he sighed, "I want to try my damnest to make it as close as a human body's as possible." Genos remained quiet, but listening. "But, this does mean you will, essentially, be my...how do I put this in the nicest way possible..." The doctor frowned, his nose screwing up with thoughts.

"Lab rat, y-you mean?" Genos showed no expression to reveal his feelings on the matter.

He shuttered with an effort to deny the boy's words, but Doctor Kuseno's chest slumped with defeat, nodding, "We-well, I wouldn't put it as that way, but yes." The doctor turned his device to show the image from it to Genos, "This is a blueprint I'm drafting for you. I've never created a body with a whole intention to make it like a human before, so this will be my complete first."

Genos stared at the doctor. He did not believe him to have any reason to lie. The man's determination to succeed in creating a fully functional body would be the most inspiring reason why he'd trust him. A man like that would have too much on the line to fail. His eyes trailed over to where Kagome had left.

"I want to do it," he tried to lean his head up to show the stubbornness in his eyes but to no avail, "I want to stay with her."

Doctor Kuseno smiled, turning away his device from Genos, "Alright my boy, we'll get started immediately. Hope my questions won't be too intrusive."

While Genos struggled to answer every question as precise and truthfully as he could, his mind continued to drift back to the girl who hardly ever left his side and who wept over him.

Genos spent the next hour speaking with the doctor about his abilities, physical prowess, and psychological stability. As the older man had mentioned, it was quite intrusive but necessary. As they went through each question one by one, the reason he asked them became clearer. There was more to making him a body than just knowing his height and weight. There were certain habits, senses and movements that he would need to be able to recreate with this new body. So Genos withstood the inquiry for as long as possible.

"Thank you, Genos." He shuffled his papers around, clicked around in his touch tablet, and gave him a sharp stare, "Get some rest for now. By the time you wake, you'll be a new person."

The blond nodded, his head trying to loll over to face the exit. Images of a blue-eyed, black-haired girl filled his mind as he slowly drifted back into the abyss of his dreams again. Soon, he'd be able to live again.

He wasn't aware that the girl was at his side again, suffering yet another bout of uncomfortable sleep. When he realized the truth though the following day all it did was to give him more courage to suffer through impending numerous of surgeries and transference, that would soon separate his brain from what was left of his original body.

It took many months and many incidents where Kagome slept wrongly, Genos was at last able to take his very first step.

It was awkward and shaky, but he did it. His body was still at best a prototype, but the doctor wanted to test the ties between his brain and the new body first before he could go further, to prevent any potential disaster may end what life Genos still contained. The body was essentially all crisscross of wires and metal, his face wasn't even his own face. Kagome having trouble recognizing him and differing him from other helper bots was enough to clue him in.

The doctor assured Genos that he would have his face back, in due time. But until then, he'd have to deal with being inside a strange, foreign body. Learning how to operate it was the most difficult part. It was almost like trying to operate a cut string, that would always swing the opposite way than you intended it to. It was bothersome. Eventually though Genos got the hang of it, if a little wobbly and with little accidental craters behind in the walls and the flooring where Doctor Kuseno assured him it was fine and even expected.

With a victorious triumph when he made it all the way across the room he turned to Kagome for praises. But, she only smiled at him with a ting of sadness, her hair unkempt from horrible sleeps she had all the months past (and it wasn't blamed on the horrible position she chose to sleep in). It was obvious that she had little energy to even disguise her uncertainty of Genos being a cyborg. She didn't take the news too well, still, less so when she realized the only thing that Genos would still have of himself was his brain.

If Genos could frown he would have. He turned to the doctor, wishing that the glass eyes would show his concerns. Thankfully Doctor Kuseno seemed to get the hint and gave a tiny sigh, "Give her time. She will get past through this, as well as you will." He softly advised.

Genos hated Kagome's sad expressions. He _hated_ it. For the first time since he woke he _hated_ that wild cyborg that destroyed all they knew and loved. Genos was too distracted to even grieve over the death of his family and Kagome's he was close to.

Now that his brain was essentially cut off from his own body, his emotions seemed to be a little dull, perhaps dead. Genos was going through the motions just so he can live. Live for himself and Kagome who cried so hard over him. So it was little strange to be feeling something near explosive.

It wasn't until he heard Kagome's squall and the bots' loud complaints that he saw he left about two great holes from his mechanical fists.

Only the doctor was able to make a sly remark, "Well, glad to know your arms are functioning correctly."

Several more days passed. Genos was finally able to control his body with a little less effort than was previously. The doctor glanced over his form, watching with pleased eyes as the new cyborg went through the chorus of practiced motions. He'd do this. He'd get through this hell. There was still so much he needed to see and do. He'd be damned if he let the fact that his real body was gone stop him. He shifted his position to flow easily into the next segment of the chorus. Kagome sat not too far away. Her eyes were still dark and her hair stuck out every which way from the lack of proper rest. But something was different about her today. She cocked her head to the side and watched noiselessly as he completed the set.

"You're almost there, my boy." Doctor Kuseno piped up as he jotted a few more notes down, "Now we can go about reconstructing your face and body."

"Really?" Genos exclaimed, feeling more excitement rush through his veins of electricity and wires than he ever thought possible.

"Really," The doctor popped his pen closed and motioned for Genos to follow him, "Let's get started."

"Right!" Genos responded. Just little bit more time. He cast a wayward glance towards Kagome. Her face was stuck in between confusion, awe, and nervousness. If Genos still had the ability, he would've given her a reassuring smile. But he could only give her a soft nod of acknowledgment before disappearing from her sight.

Kagome deflated into herself, once the monstrous-looking Genos was gone. Of course she knew it was him. Of course _that_ Genos had the nearly exact same mannerisms she remembered him to have, just with somewhat of a different voice.

 _Of course Genos died_.

And she couldn't help but feeling the weight of that failure upon her shoulders. She couldn't forget how the nauseating way his lower body was smeared underneath the giant asphalt. She couldn't forget how his beautiful golden hair was ruined with streaks of red and his face sore with a mask of blood.

Bloody hell, she couldn't even forget these little sounds he made while dying.

Her brain seemed to be convinced that the Genos she saw, wasn't the Genos she knew, even though he was the exact same person inside some different body with a little bit of his personality adjusted.

Throw in the sight and smell of death, she was haunted with nightmares for months since, where she'd be all alone and at mercy of whatever ungodly creature that doomed the entire city within a matter of hours. She was at an eternal struggle understanding what to believe. Kagome knew she was being weak, but as someone who failed to remember much of herself, the first thing she saw was darkness and a pool of blood, watching the only person she thought she _did_ remember dying before her eyes, and was now sitting alone and lonely in some stranger's lab, it was inevitable.

Bless the doctor's heart, but he was too distracted to give her the attention she need. The only company she had were these little helpers. It weighed hard on her mentally, emotionally, and physically.

Genos was facing multiple tests for his body, leaving him little time to bask in her miserable company, if at all. He seemed to be enjoying his new body, oddly enough, but perhaps he was appreciative of the new leash of life he received.

At least he knew to be grateful.

Kagome felt like she was sucking life out of everything, and that made her heart heavy.

With a sigh and yet another strand of hair being stuck behind an ear, she got up and returned to the comfort of her own domain she was kindly given by the doctor. Perhaps she would leave soon, to get a new leash on life herself. Maybe that was what she needed. Anything to keep the nightmares at bay.

The following day she packed what little she had and never spoke a word to anyone when she moved to leave all that she knew in the past seven months.

Kagome stood at the threshold of the two worlds. One path led to the surface and the other back to Genos. But she didn't hesitate, she kept on walking. Kagome didn't flinch when the large door pulled open to the open world without a complaint.

"Kagome?" She stopped, nearly jumped at the crackly sound of his voice, but she didn't look back. She didn't want to look. She didn't want to look at Genos who doesn't look like the Genos she remembered.

Genos, thoroughly frightened at the idea of his only friend leaving him behind, approached, his footsteps still heavy. Even in this prototype of a body, he could sense the pain that she was in.

"Are you leaving?" He asked, a feeling jumping through him that felt oddly similar the skip of a heartbeat. He wanted to reach out and physically comfort her.

She nodded, still refusing to look at him, "There's no reason for me to stay. You're getting your new leash on life and I think it's time I found my own way." Something cold grasped her hand-but they weren't large and demonic-like of a giant claw of the machine like she was expecting. Startled, she turned to see what it was and her eyes widened at the cold familiarity of his face, a small gasp whooshed from her dry, chapped lips. Genos had a face-and while it wasn't to the exact likeness, they were close enough. His eyes being the most stark difference, with similar hue surrounded in pitch black.

The doctor had installed eyes of similar color to his original ones in this body and they shone bright—the fierce edge of determination sharpening his gaze.

The bulky body he once had yesterday was traded into something a little closer to a grown boy's anatomy. His golden hair was almost the same, though needing a little more trim-the doctor proved himself to be an amateur at stylizing hair but it was clear he put his heart into making that hair for Genos. His skin was paler, almost glass-like, compared to his previous life's freshly pink peach. The hands that grasped her own...

"You're wrong." His grip tightened, but not too much as he didn't want to hurt her, "There's more here than just a pit of hell." For the first time since this 'rebirth', he wished he had his old body back for this once. So he could hold her properly and reassure her of her uncertainties, "You'll be alone again if you go out there. Stay here," He took a step closer, "Let me show you what life is truly like."

Genos turned her hand over in his, "Let me prove to you that there's more to this future, even if it's in this metal body."

Kagome stared at him contemplatively, her bright eyes shone bright against the bags of darkness underneath, "What are you saying?"

"Stay with me and I'll show you what it means to live." He vowed with all of his heart, his voice strong. Even when she thought that he was asleep or not paying attention, he had heard her cries of pain and grief. He had sensed her sadness and wanted to do anything possible to rid her of it once and for all. The way he currently was, she was unable to accept him fully-a blame he couldn't fault her for. Even so, he'd do anything he could to make her life just a little bit easier. One day, he hoped, she'd learn to accept him in this new body. For that's all he ever wanted from her—her acceptance.

She curled in her frail shoulders, pulling away her hand from his grasp. Genos gaped at the action and wanted to reach out and keep it in his own hands, but didn't want to frighten her anymore than he did. So, he kept them at his hips, into tight balls of fists, waiting with a bated breath.

"I'd just hold you back," Kagome murmured apologetically, and moved to turn away.

Genos' voice stopped her, "Is that what you really think?"

There was a cold silence that fell between them. He knew that she was suffering and that he was being selfish but, he didn't want to let go. He didn't want to let _her_ go. She was the only person left in his life. He wasn't about to let her leave without trying his hardest first to get her to stay.

"Do you really think yourself a burden?"

Kagome was silent, nodding her head numbly. "What else would I be?" Although he couldn't see, Genos could hear the start of a sob at the back of her throat. Something in his chest jolted again. An emotion? The dark haired girl turned around swiftly, "I can't even remember anything before that god-forsaken event!"

She had never intended on telling him. She didn't want him to be burdened by that knowledge, but she just blurted it out without thinking. How could she stay? She didn't even know who she was anymore! How was that fair to Genos? He'd have to do nothing but babysit her, trying to bring her old memories she could never remember. How is that _fair_ to him? Kagome hung her head as her tears fell noisily onto the ground, forming small, tiny puddles. "I can only remember you dying, Genos!" She wiped her eyes, "No matter how much I try I can't just forget that!"

He took a step closer, raising a hand, "How long have you really been suffering?" His voice was soft but the air around him danced with a mixture of emotions. Many of which she couldn't put names to.

"Since the beginning I guess," She sniffed, trying her hardest not to go any further into the subject. Her voice became shaky and ladled with a dampness swelling in her throat.

Genos closed his eyes as his shoulders squared, "Then I cannot leave your side." She stared up at him in shock. He took her hands again, but this time he held them together as his fingers curled tightly over her smaller fists. "You remained here this long to stay by my side-even through the darkest times." Surgeries and the transferring of his brain, was far from easy for him, it was near traumatizing. "You can't remember anything but my death as a human," His golden eyes burned her into her stormy ones fiercely, "I can't allow those sacrifices to go unnoticed!" Without warning she was pulled to his chest. It was hard but not cold as she had expected. He was warm and this body was so similar to the one he lost.

Kagome found herself unable to hold back the tears she had been hiding. She buried her face into what was supposed to be his neck and cried heavily, her hands wringing into the seam of his t-shirt.

"Thank you, Kagome," He turned his head and whispered into her ear, "You've done so much for me. So now, let me do something for you."

She couldn't nod, her body was trembling too much for her to do so, "I.. I can't f-forget," She stuttered through her sobs.

"I won't ask you to," He pulled back and stared into her wet face seriously, "I'm just asking you to give this future a chance. A future with me, okay?"

Kagome wiped her tears away, "Okay."

Genos smiled, a genuine, _human_ smile, brushing a tear from Kagome's cheek, "You're not alone anymore."

* * *

-End Prologue

* * *

A/N: Blame everything on Limitless Musings. Wasn't going to start another fic, but here it is. Experimented with my writing style again, from my usual dialogue-riddled to something more descriptive. Hope the experiment is received well by you dear readers.

Also, check out her Simplicity! It's actually a little spinoff from this fic (or you can view them like Extras like in OPM manga)! There's _little_ spoilers in it, but the plot isn't really fixed yet, so it's interchangeable at any point. :) So don't hold it against her if there's some/huge differences between our fics.

And as expected, Limitless will be contributing to this fanfiction as well (in some form). :D This probably will be maybe 10 chapters, 20 tops, if the chapter length are pretty decent. No clue when I'll update, but it's likely that the chapters after the prologue will be shorter in length though. This prologue is a _monster,_ at 8k words! So do not think the following chapters will be that monstrous too, maybe under 2k at average. And lastly, while the prologue doesn't _feel_ like one due to the sheer length, it's indeed one, to set the story afterward and to also set up the relationship between Genos and Kagome.

Again, blame Limitless for everything. -hearts- ILY bby!

Beta Reader: Limitless Musings


	2. 01: Four Years

01: Four Years

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Warning! We got another 9k monster here! Please do take breaks if you need it.  
Well, we're off to a bit of slow start here in this first chapter, but we're building up there!  
Enjoy!

* * *

Genos kept his remaining eye averted from the person standing above his ruined remains, a bit ashamed of his latest failure. She crossed her arms, pushing up her bosom, and rose an eyebrow at him, "Honestly Genos..." Kagome dropped her arms and bent down, gathering some small parts, "You're such a pain in the ass." She grabbed an unattached leg and dragged it close behind.

He couldn't resist. A little desperate to lightened the sour air she carried, he cheekily added "Yes, but I'm _your_ pain in the ass."

"You're not wrong." She remarked, pouring the metal pieces into the dented shopping cart she found in the rubble-there's always one near no matter where Genos went-with care, "Still, you're too reckless!" Kagome twirled at her boyfriend, now sitting up on what left of his waist via the remaining arm, "You nearly died!"

"And that is precisely why I am studying under a teacher now." Genos nodded, with complete sincerity in his smooth, _human_ voice.

Kagome narrowed her eyes on him, even as she tossed an arm under his and wound another under his waist, and unbowed her knees. Genos wrenched a grip upon her shoulder to give better support, somewhat embarrassed by having his Kagome carrying him around like a bride. She didn't struggle with his weight, though she left behind deeper footprints in the gray-black dust left behind by Genos' flames among the broken concrete.

"Oof," Kagome grunted when she unloaded the cyborg into the cart with his legs and what left of other unmentionable parts. She rested her arms on the dense line of steel from the trolley and stared into her idiot beau's sole eagle eye, "Okay, who?" She bit back a groan when she saw a familiar twitch in Genos' mouth. Even when his face was all but cracked and broken, she always could see that twitch coming from miles away.

"His name is Saitama," Genos began. Kagome gave him a droll stare, urging him to go on. She twirled away and grabbed the handle, "I'm only alive now because of him. He's the third person to save my life." He started.

"Who's the second?" Kagome asked, genuinely curious, as she finally began to push.

Her boyfriend smiled up at her, "You, of course!" Her cheeks flushed.

"Oh, I see..." Kagome quieted, now feeling a need to deflect the subject away from herself lest he go into a heartfelt rant about her, "Okay, keep going." She encouraged him to continue on of this new mentor.

"I've never seen strength quite like it before." Genos gestured to the blood drenched building not too far away, "That was the enemy over there. He did that to her just by one hit. A slap to be precise." Kagome's eyes bugged out of her sockets.

"Wait, that was just a _**slap**_?" She yelped, her expression was enriched with disbelief at the sight of the large splatter of blood leaking down from the brown bricks.

He nodded seriously, "Yes, he just hit her like it was nothing. I've never seen anything like it." The boy's face contorted as Kagome went over a bump in the torn up road, "He's the third person who's saved my life. You and Doctor Kuseno were the first two. Saitama's strength is unimaginable. I want to train under him so I can get stronger!" Kagome recognized that the blond was beginning to go into yet another of his long and tangled rambles. "If I can get stronger by training under him then I can track down that cyborg and get revenge. But if I don't train under him than I won't be able to find the cyborg and I won't be able to learn the secret to Saitama's raw strength." By this point she was starting to tune out, going over another bump in the process, indicting a rattle of machine parts within her cart, "If I cannot protect you like I've promised..."

Kagome think her hearing may have gone daft to him, her eyes refocused on the road ahead. She barely registered the orange-gold light of the dying sun pulling away from the shadow, occasionally nodding and humming in response to Genos' rambles. Due to his excitement he failed to realize that his own girlfriend had long since stopped listening to him.

It was well into the early morning when she finally arrived to the doctor's secret lab, with Genos still talking. By miracles he never stopped nor had he realize yet Kagome already tune him out.

"I'm going to move in with teacher soon." The bombshell was dropped. Kagome didn't stop in her task but her heart skipped a beat and an unknown rage welled within her.

After inputting her password, both verbal and entering codes via a keypad, and a secret door pulled open from a wall, Kagome had enough and silenced Genos with a snap of her frustration, "Dude! Am I supposed to be jealous or something?"

He blinked, chattering with his parts, "No, why?"

Kagome leaned forward to Genos, pushing him inside the not-too suspicious white building, and frowned, "You've certainly been going on a lot about this guy lately." She huffed and glared at him, "The only person you used to ramble about like this was me."

Genos stared at her in shock. Well, that was true but her feeling jealous? Why, that seemed so ludicrous to him. Saitama was a man!

He had _zero_ interest in men!

"That's just ridiculous, Kagome. You're only one for me," Genos defended, barely detecting the soft hissing of the door closing behind them, "You always have been." He nodded seriously.

She sighed, pinching the skin in between her eyes, and bowed her chest guiltily, "You never rant so feverishly about someone else before." Kagome shook her head, "Are you sure about this, Genos?"

"Sure about what?" He asked, the light became very bright when they arrived at the very lab of the beloved doctor.

Kagome shook her head, disappointment rich in her expression, "Forget it. Just get your ass repaired and we'll talk later." She sighed, handing the cart over to the distracted doctor, "Hi, doc!" She chirped.

Doctor Kuseno greeted them warmly. Though his eyes did not miss the way Genos kept staring at his companion in shock and confusion. He also didn't miss the slight pinch in Kagome's expression. The old doctor knew the aftereffects of a disagreement when he saw one.

Genos lifted his one good eye and met the old man's, "What did I do?"

Doctor Kuseno curled in his aged fingers over the handle and began to push his patient into a long hallway, "Hmm, well, what did you two talk about then? I only just saw you, after all." He wasn't privy to their conversations nor was he interested into eavesdropping. Genos sometimes was convinced that the doctor knew all though, which was far from the truth.

"I found myself a mentor I will be studying under soon," Genos then added with an afterthought, "likely after when my body is completely repaired. His name is Saitama and he was solely responsible for the elimination of that female insect hybrid. He eliminated her with _one_ hit!" Once again he went into a rant about this mysterious gentleman.

The doctor found himself wanting to pinch into the between his eyebrows, mimicking his pseudo daughter had just done with this silly hare-brained boy previously. Now he could completely understand Kagome's dilemma.

It was pretty trivial to him, and he knew Kagome thought the same. But it still got to her.

Because it really did sound like Genos had developed a crush on someone else, a male at that, in spite of his relationship with Kagome. Unintentionally Genos had insulted Kagome's female pride.

His eyes popped open wide when Genos said something specific.

Ah, so that was why.

"I decided to move in with him so I could learn more." Genos stated, his golden eye staring up at the doctor seriously.

Doctor Kuseno at lasts allowed a sigh to escape him, "Weren't you already living with Kagome?" He believed that the best way to get the boy to understand would be to force him to see her side of the issue. Breaking it down into parts and then twisting it the opposite direction would definitely be a good way to start. Reverse psychology, it always seemed to work so well with this young, thick-headed lad.

"Of course I was but even she understands that I need to become stronger." They made their way deep into the lab where they often worked on his body. Said girl in question waited on the other side of a glass window—sitting casually in a chair, flipping through one of the sci fi novels they had picked up a few weeks before.

The aging man rubbed his chin and gave his best patient a knowing smile, "But does she?"

Genos gave him a questioning glance, cringing as they arranged his body in the all too familiar body board where he'd be reassembled. Black straps went around the good few parts of his body as the doctor went to work.

"Let me put it to you this way," The sounds of the helper bots beeping and booping whirled all around them. Parts were tossed aside into a trash heap as other, more advanced features were installed. "What if Kagome said that she found herself a master? One that would be able to teach everything she'd ever need to know about fully controlling her power. Would you be happy for her?" A screwdriver was tossed away, a square shaped helper bot flew by and opened its top. The tool landed squarely inside of it as if it was always meant to be. The little bot clicked the little door closed and glided away.

"Of course I would. Why wouldn't I?" The blond answered truthfully.

Doctor Kuseno nodded, "Then what would you feel if said mentor believed that in order for Kagome to fully learn she must first move away from you? Would you still be happy then?" The cyborg grew silent. His mind tried to process the information. Kagome moving away from him? The very thought made his brain hurt with worry!

The sagely man tutted happily as the last bits of the new features were installed and regeared, "Put yourself in her shoes child. You are the only thing she knows. You are her safe zone, now you're saying you want to move away?" Genos' mind raced. Was that what this was all about? He hadn't even realized! "The poor girl is understandably concerned and worried about what that future may hold. You're going to be putting your relationship with her on hold and she's uncertain of what that might mean for the two of you."

The straps around his body were undone as Genos turned to look over at his beloved girlfriend. Her face was as impassive as ever but there was an unusual crease of worry that wasn't there before. Perhaps he should have thought this through more thoroughly first?

"Think your decision over carefully Genos. She's depending on you still." With that the doctor ushered him out with a paternal smile and some pride shining in his eyes when Genos walked easily in his newly repaired body.

Genos didn't need a hint to know what he needed to do.

Kagome was startled as Genos grabbed her hands gently into his. Unlike before his grip covered both of her hands—just like the day they made their promise. Her eyes turned up to stare at him curiously.

"Forgive me," The blond started, leaning his forehead against hers. "I wasn't thinking about your feelings in this situation." The young man lifted his head to plant a gentle kiss on his love's brow. "My training with teacher may result in me moving in with him, but it won't change a thing about the relationship between us." His hands tightened over her own, "When I made that promise here all those years ago, I meant every word of it. I want you to trust in this future with me. Even if it means that we have to separate physically for a short bit. But there's one thing I want you to know that will never change."

"What is that?" Kagome breathed, a flush covering her face at the intensity of his demeanor. Genos was always so serious but in this case, he seemed so fired up. Seeing him this determined over something really did light her senses on fire.

"That my feelings for you will never change. If you need me, I will always be by your side." With that, he tugged her forward and kissed her firmly on the lips. Kagome melted in his embrace, all of her previous anger evaporated like mist in the sunlight. "Don't ever forget that."

* * *

She didn't, but that didn't mean she was by any less peeved by the notion of him moving out. Kagome sighed, pocketing her phone while ignoring few more of the mechanical _ping_ alerts that kept going off. Genos left to meet with this new mentor of his, though he never ceased his incessant texting. Genos was notorious with his excessive messaging whenever he was separated from her for 'too long', according to him.

Good grief! It was probably a good thing he was the one paying for her phone. The bill was ridiculously high thanks to his constant spamming. She considered muting the device when she arrived at the doorstep of a police station; an unconscious and burly man dragging behind her in a lax grip. People were staring at her, their eyes nearly all white and burgling at the sight of a tiny woman pulling a giant man with a neck larger than his own head. He was nearly five times bigger than she was.

Kagome stood there contemplating at the size of the glass door, seeing her latest bounty was much too big to go through it to get inside the police station.

Shrugging, she took the man and smashed him through the glass. Dozens of pairs of wide eyes stared at her. "Delivery!" She cheerfully called out, kicking the groaning man towards the men in blue. They stared at her in both shock and irritation.

"That's coming out of your reward!" One bellowed, pointing a nightstick at her. She shrugged.

"Okay, you do that." She stepped over the man's unconscious body and stuck out her hand, "Now give me my money." Kagome's voice dropped to a growl. The only sound afterwards was the barrage of text alerts that were being sent by her nearly frantic boyfriend. A black brow twitched. "What the hell are you waiting around for? I don't have all day!" Okay, so she would admit it. She was way more than a little peeved. Staring at the measly pile of monetary notes in her hand, she realized that she needed to get her temper under control, and quick. She wasn't like Genos damn it! She wasn't supposed to be the one to destroy shit in a fit of rage!

With that the young woman stomped out of the police station, alarms ringing off in the distance.

"Warning: The Danger Level has been raised to Wolf in this area. Suspicious person appeared at the police station. I repeat the Danger Level has been raised to Wolf." An announcement went off overhead. Great. Just fucking great.

Kagome made sure to slip away fast, though unknowingly she had her picture already captured by nosy media until she arrived at her apartment with little inconvenience. Only trouble she encountered was some group of drunk men trying to get her into their little triple x games. Unfortunately for them she was far from being interested. She pancaked them too into the wall of the bar they were hanging out at, having run out of patience. Kagome did hope her punishing acts would cure their hangover the following morning-they were that drunk.

She slammed her face into a pillow, her body bouncing into her comfy bed, and she didn't intend to groan so loud when she heard yet another _ping!_ Kagome grabbed the phone from her jacket and glanced at the messages-Genos went past above his promised texting limit again.

119 texts.

Kagome scowled, skimming through them. Genos was much more emotional through messaging than he was in person, though it was only to her. She was always his exception. Something that would have usually deflated her anger whenever he did something she deemed stupid.

Unfortunately, the idea of her own boyfriend's impending move out counteracted the calming thought of Genos' sweet character.

 _They said there was a_ _Danger_ _level Wolf_ _warning in your area. Are you okay? I'm coming over right now!_ Those were the most recent texts. Kagome lifted her eyes to the little timestamp in between the texts, and frowned once she looked at the previous messages. There was a bit of time gap in between Genos' excessive amount of messages to his latest, tipping her off that her boyfriend was busy with that teacher of his for few hours. Probably when she caught that oversized muscles for brain and knocked him out in one fell swoop and physically transferring him to the police station across the city-which was several hours away by foot with a literal heavy burden. She hadn't realized the still silence of her phone then.

As for the guy she busted, he was infamous for heisting banks, easily owning some B classed heroes' asses, and shooting up multiple dance clubs for sheer pleasure. He sure was dumb underestimating a little girl like her. A solid kick into his head and he was already down and out. Kagome specifically targeted him because he had no known associates or minions of sorts, and she didn't especially feel like dragging more than one person to get her bounty.

Remembering the reward money, Kagome shuffled around her jacket and punted the wad of money onto her side table. There was only enough to pay her rent and a bit left over for groceries. She muttered about needing to hunt for more bounty when another _ping!_ sounded from her phone. She didn't bother replying earlier, having felt an urge to rip into him via texting. Though she knew to never do such thing. It'd only make Genos more persistent and a persistent Genos equaled an annoying boyfriend. And an annoying boyfriend equaled a super pissed off girlfriend.

 _You set off the alarm didn't you? The media recorded you._

 _Are you still angry?_

Steeling her resolve to ignore him Kagome rolled away from her phone constantly lighting up with more messages, with the quilt pulling with her body. It was childish, she knew, but she didn't like the idea that her own stupid boyfriend was moving away to live with some stranger he barely met.

Hello, stranger danger anyone?!

Plus, she felt a small victory at knowing Genos was being ignored. Being ignored by his own girlfriend bothered him more than he let on, more so when he knew Kagome did so on purpose. And it showed.

Still, she was tempted to turn into the news to see the supposed images of herself. She plucked the remote control sitting prettily next to the wad of cash, and clicked a red button. The large screen television perched upon the wall ahead of her bed blinked on, already showing the news channel. Apparently now she was wanted for arrest for the destruction of the police's property.

 _Nice!_

Kagome clicked it off with a huff. Guess that's one town she would stay away from for now on.

There was a knock on the door, and she burrowed deeper into her blanket.

 _Nope!_

She knew it was Genos and she knew no one else here. Unless the police or some hero wannabe tracked her down, which she doubted given her uncanny ability to evade and twist around her directions to avoid any potential disasters she tended to attach.

Kagome snuck a glance at the phone, when it lit up again.

 _Please open the door, babe._

She twitched, her fingers fighting the temptation to point out that he still has a key to her place. Or perhaps he wanted her to see him on her own terms.

 _Kagome, please._

More knocking, each one a little louder than the last.

No way in hell, she thought, with one thumb holding down the power button of her phone. Satisfied, she plugged in her white noise machine and turned up the noise to drown out Genos' persistence. Kagome didn't forget to lock her bedroom door either, knowing that was one key Genos didn't have. He didn't realize that it was his own girlfriend who stole it from under his nose. That metal dumb butt lost that privilege when he made a decision to move out so soon to be a better student.

Sure, Genos could come inside all he wanted. Kagome didn't want him sit outside in the cold and be looked on strangely by what neighbors she still had after all. But he was not touching her bedroom dammit!

With that in mind, she huffed again, and curled over in her warm, comfy quilt. Kagome allowed the darkness to carry her away to the sweet land of dreams, where her boyfriend never did anything stupid, such as moving out and leaving her stone cold.

Meanwhile Genos stopped knocking, detecting the white noises, and couldn't stop the sigh. He didn't want to invade her space, but Genos really need to assure his girl. With a shake of his ruined head, he fished the key from his pocket and watched as the doorknob swallowed the jagged head of his key. With a flick of a wrist, the door gave no protest when it opened the way to him.

It was black inside and his night vision found no evidence of her things being tossed aside outside of her boots—which were strewn across the floor. These two objects created a hazardous obstacle course through the entryway. It seemed like Kagome stormed into her bedroom. A minimal frown pulled at his lips, he locked the door behind him and pulled off his somewhat burned shoes and corrected his girlfriend's boots into a small cubby. With that task accomplished he straightened up and marched toward the destination he had in mind.

And it was locked. Lovely.

He couldn't knock either upon hearing how loud Kagome's white noise machine was. Genos slid close his one eye and slumped his shoulder, again fishing for his keys. And no bedroom key. He stared at his ring full with keys, and that little pink tabbed key wasn't there. Genos rubbed the synthetic skin in between the one functioning eye and a great crack where the other eye used to be. He resorted to his phone, typing in more messages, well aware he was already pushing it as it was.

In the dark he stood there with his phone his only light, constantly typing away whenever he didn't receive any immediate reply he was hoping for. Until his phone completely and utterly died. Genos bit back a groan, and went on a hunt to find a charger.

Defeated at the lack of a charger, Genos made himself comfortable on the couch. He made sure he would be able to see Kagome exiting her little domain, but for now he needed to wait and rest. It had been a long day dealing with the proclaimed House of Evolution.

He powered himself down and without realizing it he drifted off to a cyborg's version of sleep. It was only when the white noise died down that Genos woke, hearing the chatter of some objects and a _'Oh shit Genos, what the hell? Why 467 texts?!'_

"Oh really? I thought it was in the 600 range...Maybe some didn't go through?" Genos let slip, causing a sound of something crashing, "Are you okay?!"

The door slammed open, revealing a heaving Kagome in a thin pajama, making Genos' breath to hitch at his throat, and her pointing her phone at him. Whatever words she had on her tongue, they died at the sight of Genos. He blinked, when she remained quiet for a long period of time. He had to force his body to behave when it reacted at her wearing little clothing, "Kagome?"

Kagome screwed up her expression, clearly at conflict at what to feel about her idiotic robot boyfriend's appearance. Eventually though she picked a side, and just...roared out in laughter, an arm holding her now aching belly, "Oh m-haha, Genos," snik! "what the f-haha!" Kagome couldn't talk at all, and retreated into her room to fight the hilarity of this situation.

Genos frowned and patted his fluffy head, remembering his damaged appearance, "It's my hair, isn't it." He stated, dryly. He wouldn't have known if it weren't for Saitama pointing it out earlier.

When the laughter ceased a little, Kagome returned but not to talk to Genos. Rather, she held up her phone and snapped a picture of Genos with his burnt afro. His eye widened once the realization reached him, "What the-?! No, don't!" Genos cried, but Kagome, lost to her laughter again, ran back inside her room and locked her door, "Give me that phone! Delete the picture!" Genos pounded on the wood, "Kagome!"

Kagome said nothing, but rather she jumped onto their shared computer and saved the embarrassing image on their back up drives. As she knew her boyfriend's habit of being thorough, she saved copy after copy and made back ups of her back ups. By the time she was done, the picture had been saved over fifty times onto several drives. To help drive the point home, she went into the system preferences and changed her background image to that of Genos reaching for her with one eye missing and singed afro-styled hair.

Genos called out to her, pounding at the door. If she waited too long he'd likely break it down just to retrieve the phone. So, still giggling like mad, she slipped her feet onto the ground and slowly creaked the door open. The girl's face lit up with twisted delight at the desperation on his face. Oh this was too good to pass up!

"Yes dear? Did you need something?" Kagome asked sugary sweet.

"Delete it!" Was her only response. She tutted at him and traced her finger from his collar down the center of his chest.

"Now why would I do that? You look so… so…." His good eye widened as her face grew into a maniacal smile, "HILARIOUS!" With that she darted past him and into the living room. Genos took off after her, his eye locking onto the cellular device in her hand. He was not about to let her keep that damn photo!

With her lithe form she was able to turn and bend at every obstruction of her apartment easily. With Genos, not so much, but with a little cleverness he caught her with ease, wrapping his arms around her waist and lifted her high in the air, "Give me that phone!"

Kagome shrieked, Genos could feel her laughter expanding her waist, and she kicked her legs, "No!" She pushed away the hand that still held her phone as far away from her scowling boyfriend as she could.

"Give. Me. That. Phone!" He demanded, now pulling her closer to the ground in between his legs so he can reach the hellish object easier.

She wailed in midst of her crackles, her knees now on the cold tiles of the kitchen floor, "Noooo!"

Genos didn't stop a steam of smoke escaping from his mouth, "Fine, you asked for it!" He curled in over her, never once letting go of her waist, until he was on all three available limbs, "Please give me that phone!" Almost there!

Kagome wiggled, finding herself literally stuck, _squished_ , in between a hard place and a rock-well a hard as rock cyborg that is, her flailing hand tried so hard to avoid the nearing mechanical hand of her boyfriend it became damp. She tried to push her legs out of his hold, tears in her eyes, "Nooooo! Haha!"

Genos growled under his breath. He pushed his hips forward purposely as he reached for her phone. Kagome squealed, throwing the long sought after phone down her shirt between her breasts. A smirk spread across his face.

"You just gave me the encouragement I needed."

With that, a metal hand went down her shirt and grabbed the object away from her, momentarily fondling her. Before Kagome knew what was happening, her boyfriend had torn himself away from her and was hard at work deleting the photo.

With a victorious triumph, Genos kept Kagome away who was trying to seize her own device from him while he sifted through the phone applications for a certain app. She still hadn't stopped laughing, regardless of her loss. He pulled open her picture gallery, biting back the smile at the sight of numerous pictures of them together, and clicked the very first image he saw. It was of course the very picture of him with a humiliating symbol of his loss against the Carnage Kabuto. What made it worse was his shocked expression.

He deleted it immediately, and being wise to his girlfriend's antics he made sure to be thorough with the electronic object-searching to eliminate any additional copy of that such image.

There was no other copy he could find, but...

"Don't tell me you saved more of them on the computer!" Genos barked, seeing Kagome spraying across the kitchen fighting her tears. "Oh for the fuck's sake..." He stormed to the bedroom, determined to get rid of every last humiliating image of himself, forcing Kagome to scramble after him. Her laughter trailed close behind.

Distracted with his end goal, Kagome snatched her phone back from his loosened grasp-that arm seemed a little frayed, a usual sign of his pressure sensors being damaged. With a mad giggle Kagome discreetly took more pictures.

Genos woke the laptops and logged on. He glared at the new background, and quickly eliminated it and set it back to the previous background, which was consisted of them on a date in an ice cream cafe. Familiar with Kagome's usual tricks though, he knew to check every crook and cranny of the computer. Within matter of minutes he discovered just how far Kagome wished to keep the image.

"Why in the world would you want 50 images of the same thing?!" Genos was frustrated, deleting the 46th image he found, but he hadn't yet given up. His only response was more laughter. "Stop laughing!" He brayed, but didn't look back to see Kagome actually video recording him fretting around on the computer.

There were actually more than 50 images, some near impossible to delete-the bitch was too crafty with her passwords sometimes, she was just usually generous with her secrets with him. Cursing under his breath, Genos looked back to fuss at her but found himself deflating at the sight of Kagome's phone recording him. He forgot about her phone!

Kagome's laughs had slowed to snickers, perhaps being too exhausted to continue. The mad smile stayed the same though.

"I surrender. You win." Genos' forehead met the shiny surface of the glass table, next to the laptop, and stayed there for good solid few minutes.

She couldn't resist rubbing some salt in his open wounds, "I've already uploaded the picture to your profile on FaceSocial!" Never mind he had fairly few 'friends' to begin with who could see his humiliating image. The sole purpose of his usage of a such website was to commemorate memories he liked to keep, especially when they both had a bad streak of luck in losing their phones and computers to rampaging villains.

"Oh come on!" Genos shot a glare at his cackling girlfriend, and wilted again at the unwavering expression Kagome held, "You're too evil for your own good." He moaned, flexing to his feet and walked past the troll he already paid the toll to, "I'm going to watch a movie. Whenever your lungs come back from the orbit, come and watch with me at least." Genos muttered, a little disgruntled at how the past two days had been for him.

At least Saitama enjoyed his company during the big sale shopping, before Genos heard about the incident in the neighboring city where his girlfriend (should be) residing for her job request.

Genos stalked out to the living room, Kagome's quiet giggling following him all the way. Did it really look that bad? He saw the image of himself that she saved probably a thousand times over by now but was it really that funny? The cyborg felt himself deflating again. Well, if it kept her from being pissed off at him then he'd guess that he'd have to live with it for the time being. He sighed. Damn, he was really hoping to patch things up tonight too. He really wasn't a fan of being left to his own devices for more than a day. The frustration was already starting to get to him!

He popped in a dvd of a movie he hadn't yet seen of Kagome's horror collection and made himself comfortable on the couch again. Genos made sure to leave some room for her to sit with him too, hoping she would at least be up for some cuddle time with him. He sure could use it.

Unfortunately, once Kagome was done with her fit and her lungs figuratively came flying back, she performed her usual morning routine and took up the recliner instead. Pointedly ignoring him, she curled in her long legs, unknowingly teasing the poor Genos, and relaxed her position to watch the movie inside the seat that was a bit too big for her tiny size. Certainly there was no room for him, unless he picked her up and propped her down on his lap...

Which would not of been a bad idea, if not for Kagome's temper.

Still, he kept an eye out for an opening to at least touch her. The movie was surprisingly gory-the kind even he would have flinched at by watching it. Knowing his girlfriend she would get uncomfortable at a certain point of the movie and pause it to appease her greasy tummy. An unusual case of nausea from a side effect of seeing horrible things. Genos never understood why Kagome was fascinated by such genres, but he never asked, because he didn't mind it either.

"Ugh!" Kagome twisted her face, her skin paled as she bent over and stole the remote control from next to Genos' thigh, where he conveniently forgot to return to the coffee table.

There was that opportunity he was looking for!

Before she could even breathe Genos grabbed her reaching arm, his hands easily wrapping around her thin limb, and gently tugged her over the ledge of the couch onto his lap. His arms secured around her waist as his lips pressed themselves against her mouth. She grunted against him in shock. Sensing her rising ire, and fist pushing on his chest, he pulled back and gave her a soft smile.

"You know I can't stay away from you."

Her chest lowered somewhat, "You're a hound, you know that?"

The cyborg's expression lightened, "You tell me all the time."

Kagome shook her head and moved to stand up, though a pair of strong arms prevented her from doing so. "Genos, let go. I'm not in the mood." Her gaze turned back to the disaster sitting on top of his head, "Besides, I am not going to sleep with you while you look like that!" A single index finger pointed up at the afro. His expression soured again. Damn, he really should've cleaned up first before heading back here. Genos would have been laid by now!

"I am not fucking a man who looked like he's a circus clown in training." Kagome muttered, darkening her boyfriend's mood further. She peeled away from his laxing grasp and threw a look at Genos, though now was weighted with some sympathy with his current plight, "Let's just take you to Doctor Kuseno, okay? I don't think I can handle the movie today anyway." As stupid as he may be, Genos was already humiliated enough and Kagome knew when the enough was enough.

Genos dropped a sigh, "Fine."

"I'll put some clothes on." Kagome hummed, retreating back to her room. With a clean set of, admittedly, cute clothes on, she didn't forget her phone and bounced toward her patient idiot, "I'm ready to go." She informed, pulling her boots on.

Genos, still looking defeated, nodded and led the way.

The walk to the lab was long and neither spoke a word to each other. The quiet between them was comforting, at first. It grew to become suffocating the closer they were to their destination, but they ignored it in the favor of each other's company. A familiar building came in view among lifeless streets.

Kagome pulled back her lips. She had been trying very hard to ignore the fact she would sorely miss his company when Genos moved out. Four years with him...and having him gone for a long period of time wasn't an idea she is willing to entertain for long.

She wondered why Genos didn't seem to feel the same, in spite of all of his clingy text messages he often times spammed her with.

But, no, her logical side reminded her-that was just Genos. He wasn't ever an emotional individual. It took him well over four years to confess his love for her, and that was two years ago. They had been together since. But even before then, Kagome and Genos were hardly ever part for very long, almost joined at the hip.

Even when she could no longer remember her past after she woke to the empty hell of ashes and stones, Kagome couldn't remember not ever being apart from her Genos for more than few days at most.

And that made her angry.

Her stirring thoughts met an abrupt end when they had arrived at the doorstep. Instead of facing the glass door, Genos stared at the wall adjacent from it. His eye lighted, and a still pause passed for several seconds. There was a tiny beep and he spoke a verbal password, "Genos, access passcode: fiend17 slash 48damage equal red dot dawn." Kagome was startled at this, not expecting his passcode to be a new one.

A thin voice beeped, "Please input your secondary passcode in the keypad provided to you."

The wall ejected a small square and it twirled to his direction, with white digits encased in black. Genos raised a hand and allowed his fingers to tap-dance over it. Another beep, this time sounding with satisfaction, pulling back the small keypad, "Access granted! Welcome back, Mr. Genos." Again another beep, this time slightly longer, sounded, "We've detected another presence. May we have the guest's identity?"

"It's Kagome, my significant other." He replied, at which Kagome twitched at but she said nothing.

His response followed a whirring of happy chirping, "Oh, welcome back, Ms. Kagome! We hope you have been well!" There was a slight provocation behind the voice's words, but Kagome sighed with understanding.

It needed her voice for confirmation, "I'm doing alright. How about you?" The series of clicking ended.

"We are quite functional and running smoothly, Ms. Kagome! May you both have a pleasant stay." A thin line of a rectangle that was taller and wider than Genos lit up, and the door came into view. It slid open, awaiting their entrance.

Kagome stared, not over the new change of the verbal passcode, "Okay, what the heck?" Looked like the paranoid doctor changed the passcodes again, and she hadn't yet received any information on this.

Genos rolled his shoulders into a shrug, throwing a glance at her, "It was the doctor's idea. Apparently he's been obsessive over that Call of Honor game lately."

She dropped a brow, "Somehow, that does not surprise me. Let's just go in."

The door zipped shut behind them, and they made their trek through the long tunnel of a white hallway. At the end, there was no door-simply a ring of white, where the doctor was sure to wait for their arrival. And he was, though looking a little bit peeved.

"Hello, doctor," Genos greeted, a little distached in hope the doctor wouldn't notice and find some humor with his broken appearance.

"Hi, doc!" Kagome chirped, though it was obvious she was feigning given her voice was pitched higher than usual and the tightness around her mouth.

Genos was relieved when Doctor Kuseno only gave him a raised eyebrow, "Now what happened there, Genos boy?" He didn't fail to notice that the couple hadn't yet worked out their differences, though he didn't expect them to. Genos was still holding on the idea of moving in with this supposed teacher to be a better pupil, while it was too apparent Kagome did not agree and was having difficulties coming to terms with his decision.

Unable to take another second being in Genos' presence, with a horrible feeling like she'd blow up, Kagome turned towards her boyfriend. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze, "Hey I have to head back and take care of a few things." Well, her rent was set to be due at midnight-a good excuse as any, "I'll see you soon, okay?" After that she took off in a flash. Genos raised his arm to reach for her but she was already gone. He felt the pang of guilt in his chest. What did he have to do to make this right?

"I told you, did I not?" Doctor Kuseno began as he offered the boy a familiar seat. "You must reassure her. Right now she's feeling that loneliness. You're more determined than ever to leave her side and she's confused." A small smile spread across the older gentleman's lips as he set to work, "Sex is usually a good way to help a woman understand your feelings."

Genos grunted, "She won't let me." If the doctor didn't know any better, he'd say that his patient was pouting.

"I'm not surprised, but you've got to keep working at it." The old man tugged a few objects from his face and threw a few useless nuts and bolts away, "Women are driven by their emotions. They want to feel loved and accepted." A helper bot whirred, its' antenna twirling rapidly as it searched for any anomalies within Genos' body, "She's done that for you, now you must be willing to do that for her. Try talking to her again. A promise will only get you so far." The doctor's eyes sparkled mischievously. So he had heard that last time. Damn, what else was there to do other than bed her from dusk to dawn? Not that she'd allow him to at this point.

"When you say talk, what do you mean by that?"

His doctor hummed, "Ask her what's causing her to be so upset. Get down the source of her problems and then work from there." Aged fingers pulled away the now destroyed hair piece that Kagome had laughed at earlier. It was swiftly replaced with another similar looking one but this time it came upgraded as fireproof. Good, that would come in handy after all. "Chances are she's just sad, hurt and confused. You _are_ leaving her after all. She might think that you're trying to break up with her."

Genos shot forward in his chair, only restricted by the bindings that curled around his body so to better scan for any broken functionality, "No! Never! I'd never!"

The doctor held up his hand, "That may be true on your end, but you don't show your emotions very well child. You must prove to her your loyalty."

The cyborg leaned back, still uneasy about the situation. Was that what this was really all about? Kagome didn't trust him not to return? She thought that he was trying to leave her? Determination filled his soul. He'd be damned if he let her think that for another instant!

"But, give her a little space for a little while." Doctor Kuseno sighed, shifting through his tools upon a small hovering table, "I have a feeling she will need to vent first. An overly emotional woman would only impede the needed conversation." He pulled on some patch of synthetic skin over Genos' cracked cheek, "Why not go and hang with your sensei for a little while before trying again?"

Genos didn't like the idea of leaving Kagome alone any longer than necessary, but slumped into his seat, "Alright. I'll check in with Saitama-sensei then."

"Good, because I'd like to get back to my game." The doctor tutted, resetting a new eyeball into that empty hole.

* * *

It didn't really good to feel alone, but at the same time, it was oddly liberating. She could breathe a little better without her boyfriend trying to drown her with his love. Kagome muted her phone, though she didn't know for sure if the doctor managed to talk to Genos on her behalf.

He was usually quite good about being stern with Genos' texting-for a man who worked endless hours with technologies, Doctor Kuseno _absolutely_ hated whenever Genos texted in front of his presence and put his foot down about using it if he was in the room with his patient.

A heavy roll of breath left her lips, Kagome still felt her chest burning with hurt and rejection. Lifting her eyes up to the bright green and cobblestone-colored scenery ahead of her, Kagome tried to calm herself. She could detect the sourness twirling around her being tightly, but with several more breaths they seemed to have loosened their chains a little.

She could think more positively. Maybe she could try to see things from Genos' perceptive? Kagome knew she was way too focused on the notion of her idiotically reckless boyfriend's moving out, but not of his reasoning.

Clunks of her boots gave a calming rhythm that she could keep her mind to-there was no one here in this neglected park anyway.

So, why did Genos want to move out? He said it was to get stronger. To be a better fighter and protector for her. Never mind that she hardly needed protecting to begin with.

Couldn't he just stay and attend to this teacher's training on his own time? Genos was by no means slow, after all. He was rather quick on his feet, and beside this sensei lived somewhere in the abandoned section of the Z city. That wasn't too far away from her place of resident, which resided in Y city.

Kagome didn't quite get this logic...but Genos was always driven, perhaps too focused for his own good. He would learn more if he put all that he had into the training. She wouldn't deny that. He wouldn't learn as much if there were distractions around...

But did that mean she was a distraction too?

Her stomach turned cold at that thought, Kagome crossed her arms over it in attempt to warm it up a little. She blinked, feeling a familiar stinging sensation in her eyes, and Kagome drew in air to keep herself composed. It would be no good if she just started crying into middle of nowhere.

She'd cry later.

A pressure that resembled a stab into her brain made Kagome stop in her tracks, her mind's eye pulling her attention of a _very_ speedy presence heading her way. And the individual seemed to be...in pain?

His body screamed it, brightly red in her mind. It was saying he was in need of recovering from whatever injury he received.

There!

Kagome blinked. She only had few seconds to get a full glimpse of this...man? It was a very slim man with a feminine body figure, or perhaps she had it the other way around? Though he _was_ nesting his hands upon his loins. He was clad in complete black, tightly form fitting, with a long violet scarf that actually slapped her in the face.

She threw a glare behind her, though he was already long gone, "Rude!"

Kagome sniffed, rubbing her cheek, "Fucking narutard playing ninja...It's a bad idea to be running if your balls are aching, ya know..." she muttered, forcing her feet back to her lonesome walk back home, to continue her emo brooding.

-End Chapter 1

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A/N: Well, I didn't expect to have another yet long monster. Boo...anyway, this chapter primarily is about Genos and Kagome's relationship and getting a clearer picture of who they are as a couple (who still love each other), even in spite of their struggles. Beside from that, I'm pretty much setting up the story still. Next chapter should be pretty fun, I think. ^^

Thanks again to Limitless Musings for helping me to grind out this chapter! She's amazing! She also recently started her own, original OPMxIY fanfiction apart from mine. Why not check out her _Kazoku_?!

Here's the summary of _Kazoku_ to interest you: "A family is all that one has. Keeping that family together even during the toughest of storms is sometimes harder than it appears."

Thanks so much for your reviews! It was warming to know that this new tale got some nice warm reception!

Anyway, as always, please leave any feedback! Any criticism, suggestions, or what have you, are always welcome.

Beta Reader: Limitless Musings


	3. 02: Anticipation

02: Anticipation

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Another monster chapter again...though it's a bit smaller, haha! This chapter is _still_ a bit of slow burn, so we're getting there! :)

* * *

He wanted to fidget before his own girlfriend, the quilt of the kotatsu table seemed to fray a little from his own excess heat with the news he feared she would be unhappy to hear. Kagome took on an impassive look, showing nothing that rested on her mind of his recent transgression. Genos didn't much like her current expression, preferring her smiles to that, but there was little to be done about it.

At least he looked normal now, giving no reason for her to laugh at him again. That had been utterly humiliating.

"I'll become a hero." Genos declared, battling the nervousness gnawing his consciousness. At Kagome's doubtful expression he continued, "That is, if it's okay with you. I want to involve you in my decisions as much as possible. Saitama-sensei recommended I take part in the Hero Association certification exam to be a professional hero with him."

A good topic starter if any. The doctor's advice still rang in his ears, and Genos intended to follow through.

Kagome stared at him blankly, "Since when were you interested in becoming a hero?"

"Since yesterday." Might as well be honest.

Kagome glared, "Fail." She then picked a bit of dust on her shirt, "You only want to be a hero because _he_ does." Her gaze slid over to his form, "If you're going to do something than do it because you want to, not because you're asked or told to." Her hand fell to her lap.

"I still don't get why you want to leave. It's not like I've held you back."

Time for a heart to heart, he supposed, where he was to confess everything, "I wanted to do better for you," Genos curled in his fingers into the knees of his jeans, "in every way...and that means that I should give you some space." The latter part wasn't what he wanted to say, but what he needed to do. He knew he was hovering over her at nearly every turn and that wasn't fair to her. The doctor insisted time to time again that he needed to give her some breathing room. Absence makes the heart grow fonder sort of thing. Not that Genos agreed with it. He _needed_ to see her. He _needed_ to hear from her. She was the very air he breathed.

Kagome grimaced, but gave a nod to encourage him to continue.

Genos tilted his head, "I've came to realization that chasing after revenge wasn't...all that healthy for me. And being a Hero is the essentially the same thing that I, _we_ , have already been doing before. I get paid for performing my duties and I can still continue my searches, only with less drive for it." He rolled his shoulders with a deep breath, "I've also realized that I have been...inconsiderate of you as well and that was not fair to you."

"Geez you think?" Kagome quipped.

Stiffening at her cold response, Genos rolled to his feet, startling her at his sudden action. He took few steps around the table, and propped down to his knees next to Kagome, causing a breeze to blast into her face. She glared, twisting her waist to see him fully and even inched away from him for some space.

Not allowing that to happen Genos took her hand and stared at her fiercely, "I want you to know that there is nothing that I won't do for you." He gripped her hand tighter and took a deep breath again, "I've been so focused on trying to do better that I failed to realize how much I hurt you in the process."

Kagome pulled into her bottom lip and gnawed them as he cupped her head and pressed her forehead against the steel plate of his chest. Her fingers rubbed the cloth over the indents of his air vents. Small puffs of warm air rose and brushed across her cheeks. Oh, how she missed this. Genos tangled his arms around her back and pressed her body harder against him, molding her with his form.

"I will never abandon you," His arms tightened and the vents became warmer, air dancing across her skin, "I want you to know that. Even if I'm going to move out that you will always be my number one priority. In fact," He pulled back to grasp her face between his hands, "The only reason why I'm moving is because I'm putting you first. I need to deal with my own issues." A metal thumb traced the lines of her cheekbone, "I want you to be happy Kagome. I can only give that to you if I do this."

His voice dropped, "Will you trust me with this? Will you still trust in our future?"

She nodded, ignoring the tiny tears glimmering across her eyelashes, and pressed her lips against his gently, "I always have."

Genos smiled, almost brightly, "So, should I continue on with taking the certification exam?" He brushed across a thumb below an eye, to wash away a runaway tear. Guilt tapped his chest, but he refused it access. He didn't like tears, but this isn't a case to be guilty about.

Removing herself from Genos' body she burrowed herself in her cushion into a proper sitting position, and Kagome lifted her shoulders with her chest, before whooshing a large burst of air from her mouth. She set her face impassive again, "Yeah, sure. I don't see why not. It's not really any different than what we were doing before, wasn't it?"

He didn't free his hands from her face, though he did crook his head in thought, "There are some minor differences, but the goals are the same. Capture or end any and all those who create chaos or with malicious intentions against any one individual, group, city, or earth itself. And we'd get paid for it too." Genos thought back further on his recent research, "Payment varies depending what rank the Hero is and how active they are...the lowest payment goes to the lowest rank, which is C, plus the lowest activity. The highest goes to the highest rank, which is S, plus the highest activity. The amount they will get-"

Kagome interrupted, pressing a finger on his lips to pause his speech, "Genos, dear. You are rambling again."

"Oh."

She smiled, lowering her hand from Genos' face, "Well, there's that…" Her eyes darkened, tugging at her low collar to tease him and bowed her spine, "And there might be more payment later. Though you'll still have to work for it."

Genos moved towards her, lowering his limbs to her waist. He really wanted to take her up on her offer but there was just a little something that stopped him. He scooted closer and kneeled over her hips, his lips just a breath away from hers, "I want you to know that regardless of the situation I'll be here as much as you need me to be." He overlapped his lips firmly over hers, the hands clasping firmly on her hips, "I'm only one phone call away."

Kagome locked her arms around his neck and twisted her fingers together, "I know." With that she pulled him on top of her and nothing was said anymore.

* * *

She made Genos promise that he would deliver news in person, rather than calling or texting her. Kagome would rather hear it from his own mouth. When he left to attend to his new mentor and to the exams, the apartment settled uneasily in his absence and the quiet blanketed over her. When Genos said he wouldn't bother her he meant it. And she knew how hard it was for him to keep quiet.

Kagome found that she was too used to hearing Genos fussing with his household chores and the smell of bleach that permeated even into most surfaces. Without these her home seemed to have grayed, lifeless. She wondered how she could handle his absence at a longer period.

Genos was obsessed with accomplishing every chore in existence, just to keep his hands busy (or so he said-it was some kind of habit he picked up some months after they moved in together as roommates. That was before they became involved in an official relationship too—so she still had no idea what triggered that particular habit). He left her only the cooking to take care of—and that was because even he would have to acknowledge her foods were better. Kagome admitted that it made her feel pretty lazy and pampered. Without him she would have to start learning how to care of her daily chores again.

She rolled over on her couch, with the intention to finish her movie. It was the second to last movie of the classic horror marathon she was bingeing on, to keep her mind off her boyfriend. Her untouched tea was long since went cold and the coffee table was empty of its usual bowl of popcorn. Kagome wasn't hungry. Hadn't been since breakfast, which was well over seven hours ago when Genos was around.

Her eyes glanced at the time on her eerily silent phone, and she tugged on her tank top, swallowing a thick fluid that made its way to the top of her throat. It was almost time. Something skittish rested in her belly, becoming more excited closer the number ticked to the appointed time Genos said he would return.

When the scene where the lone heroine would finally fall to the masked male's chainsaw, which would always follow that particular picture she would skip (it involved the body being violated into pieces, which Kagome squicked out at. Stupid horror trope), she heard the door unclicking. Kagome paused the movie, and took to her feet, watching the door open.

Genos slumped at the sight of her, clad still in her pajamas, and smiled, "Hi, babe. I'm home." He opened his arms, and sighed when her body crashed into his. He pressed his lips into the crown of her ebony locks, "I've made it to Class S with perfect scores." He hummed when she put her lips on his skin.

"Congratulation, babe." Kagome murmured against Genos' cheek, feeling his hands twisting at her spine and felt almost breathless at his tightening hug, "I knew you could get a pretty good rank."

Genos nuzzled into the crook of her neck, "The exams were too easy. Pitifully easy...It was an complete injustice what they did to the sensei!" His eyes lighted, scowling at the memory of the letter C on the paper.

Kagome cocked her head upwards and placed her lips against his, soothing away his anger.

"What'd they do?" She whispered against the skin of his mouth.

He let out a low grunt, "They made him C-Class."

Batting away the warmth of spite settling in her heart, Kagome blinked, "Oh? But didn't you say he was powerful?"

"He scored perfectly on the physical exam." Genos muttered, "In fact, I heard the council claiming he was the strongest they ever had on record."

Kagome paused, "But then why did they make him C-Class? If he's strong then there would be no need for him to start so low." Inwardly she was somewhat happy—whether her boyfriend knew it or not, it validated her belief that he was strong enough as he was and didn't need a mentor.

But, then again, Genos had been a _little_ less reckless than before...For his sake Kagome would still give this Saitama-sensei a chance.

Genos shrugged at her question. He didn't have any answer to that. The written exam was ridiculously easy, considering all it asked were moral questions-and he still couldn't get the idea of how Saitama-sensei could have possibly failed that. Pushing away the Hero Association's callous treatment of his mentor for another day, Genos had something else in mind.

Kagome gave a pointed look, feeling a cold mechanical thumb curling underneath the elastic of her pants below her spine. She huffed and swatted at his chest, "You're insatiable! You know that?"

The cyborg grunted. He lifted her legs to wrap them around his waist, making carrying her over the couch that much easier. She let out a squeal of laughter as he let her back drop onto the cushions. His body was quickly on top of hers as his mouth started to suck on the skin at the crook of her neck and shoulder.

"Would you have me any other way?" Genos replied through heavy breaths. She fought the urge to moan as his tongue slid over a sensitive, bruised spot of her flesh. His teeth gently pinch at the area in response.

"I'm still sore you know!" Kagome laughed as she tried to close her thighs on him playfully. Genos quickly put his hands in their path and gently pried them back open. Before his girlfriend could protest he was positioned in between of her legs.

"I'll make it better." His mouth moved from her collarbone back up to her lips. He greedily took her mouth with as much passion as he could muster. "Besides," He started in between pants, "I'll be moving soon. I want to make the most of our time together."

Kagome relented and relaxed against his touch, "Fine, but you better be willing to give me a full body massage on top of pampering me for a whole day." She poked his metal chest to emphasize her point.

A cocky smirk spread across his lips as his fingers curled over her hips, "I'll do that and so much more." She groaned, feeling the brush of a hand pulling on the buckle of his own jeans dancing across her exposed belly. Kagome mentally steeled herself for a long night ahead.

Hours later, Kagome laid on her bed, finding her body painfully stiff. The hot aches kept her awake, prompting her to watch the sun jostling the sky from its blackness from the window for some entertainment. Genos was passed out behind her, his arms wounded up tightly her form. His possessiveness hadn't left even when he slept, stubbornly hanging on her. For a cyborg Kagome supposed she should be relieved that partaking in such activities knocked him right out. She didn't have to put up with his hovering for a time being.

He was very desperate during their coupling, leaving Kagome feeling a small twinge of regret for not asking him to stop earlier. She loved the way his touch danced over her heated flesh. She loved how he knew exactly what he needed to do to make her feel alive. However, her body wasn't always prepared to handle the stress of his love in return. She trembled. She sat up, a pair of metal arms tightening around her waist. Even if she wanted to, she didn't have the strength necessary to stand on her own. The shaking in her legs saw to that.

A pair of golden eyes opened to stare up at her heatedly. Genos sat up and used this position to gain leverage and yank his girlfriend onto his lap. Her eyes slid close as his mouth was swiftly slanted over her own. She loved him. She loved every part of him. But she knew she needed her rest as well.

Kagome placed her hand on his chest as he tried to lie her back onto the bed. It was the silent command to wait.

"I'm sore." She groaned, before snapping a wince when she moved a leg too suddenly. Genos smiled at her gently, pressing a soft kiss to her brow.

"Was I too rough?" Her arms went around his neck and pulled him close. Even if her body couldn't handle the effects of their lovemaking, she still wanted to feel his body next to hers.

"A little bit. I need a few days to rest." She heard him grunt in dissatisfaction. It was painfully clear that he wanted to go for another round but was willing to give her the space she needed. Kagome felt a small wave of relief. Perhaps him moving in with this teacher would be a good thing after all. It'd give her the time necessary to recover from his passionate bouts of lovemaking and provide her with more breaks from his hands-on approach.

She would miss the sounds when he tackled his chores, the mild smell of bleach, and most of all, Genos himself, but she sure as hell wouldn't miss the pain of her body when enduring his loving attentions.

Feeling the sleep tugging at her eyes Kagome sighed and made herself comfortable (or as much as she could with her body whining) in her boyfriend's arms. She was already gone to her dreamland before she could even shut her eyes fully.

Genos hummed, erasing away his disappointment at the sight of her. Perhaps he had been too much for her last night. But he wasn't looking forward to the impending move, where he would see less of Kagome. His heart twisted at the thought, but he reminded himself it was for the best. With that in mind, he settled down in the bed and promptly left to his sleep mode. He would need to get up few hours anyhow to meet with his sensei for a promised spar.

* * *

The blue bucket was set back to the table, Genos eyed how empty it was. It was barely enough to sate his system for two days, but it'd do, he decided. He blinked at his groaning teacher who he had beaten with ease, his bald head shined a reflection of Genos from the table, "Are you alright sensei?"

Saitama only groaned in response, garnering a mix of impressed and disgusted murmurs from shocked bystanders. Saitama wished he hadn't challenged his new disciple for that udon contest...

Genos frowned, "I can take you to a hospital if you need-"

Saitama interrupted, "No, no, I'm fine. Just let me rest." He sourly muttered, slightly annoyed at Genos for having a bottomless stomach.

The cyborg relaxed his shoulders, ignoring the congrats being given to him by the patrons in the sweaty restaurant, "Well if you insist..." Genos palmed the phone in his jeans, suddenly feeling an need to hear his beloved's voice, "Excuse me, sensei, I would like to make a phone call." Saitama waved him off, looking a touch green from overfeeding himself with the salty noodles.

Genos inched away from the crowd to go outside and planted his back to the wall some feet away from the door. Shifting his feet he dialed a familiar number, enjoying the beeps each digit produced-speed dial is convenient, but he just happened to love dialing her full phone number, simply because it was _hers_ -and pressed it against an ear.

After one chorus of a tone he didn't have to wait long.

"This is Kagome!" She chirped.

Genos felt a smile climbing to the edges of his lips, "Hey, babe, it's me."

Kagome's voice pitched higher, rolling with joy at hearing him, "Oh, hi! I wasn't expecting you to call me. How did the sparring go?" He heard something chattering, and Genos came to conclusion that she was just finishing up her bowl of popcorn. She said she was going through another horror movie marathon again today. Poor thing was bored without his company and she didn't need to worry about her rent for a while when Genos paid for another month to appease her anger. This meant she was left with little to do, unless she felt like shopping, gaming, or tackling another job request for a few extra bucks.

"I could have died." Genos admitted, "The power the sensei held was nothing to be reckoned with."

"Eh?" Kagome became curious, and he heard her muting the movie-or perhaps pausing it, "What happened?"

He glanced to the sky, free of clouds and shined with thousands of little stars, "I gave my all, and he still didn't take me seriously." Genos' eyes slid close, in remembrance of his battle with Saitama, "He simply dodged every one of my attacks, and even left an after image of himself for me to chase after."

"Wait, really?" Her interest peaked, "But you've always been able to land a punch! Sure there had been a few times I had to protect your ass when things got too much, but still! You never missed not landing a hit!"

A little flattered at Kagome's impression of him, Genos frowned, "Well, I was not able to touch even his cape. Not only is sensei powerful but he is very fast too." He curled a free hand into a tight ball of a fist at Kagome's murmurs of nonsensical sounds when she tried to make senses of the teacher he always spoke about-his sweet girl always thought him powerful, if reckless. The fact that she was unable to compel the idea of him _not_ being able to land a hit, kind of hurt his pride but at the same time swell his ego for her faith in him. "He tried ending the spar by poking me in the cheek." Genos remembered.

"Huh?" Kagome stopped, "Wait. He... _poked_ you in your cheek?" She giggled, "Sounds like your teacher has some sense of humor." There was a smile in her voice.

He sighed, feeling the rough texture of the wall snagging his shirt, "Yes, and I tried landing a hit there. What he did afterward was...nothing less than terrifying."

Genos heard some sounds of scuffling, Kagome was moving her position on the couch, "What did he do?" She mumbled, a little unsettled at his flat voice.

"He threw a punch, right before my nose...but," Genos rolled his shoulders, "he didn't _hit_ me per-say."

Kagome became more unsettled, "Eh? What do you mean, babe?"

"The blow that should be meant for me...blew up the mountain behind me instead. There was a large amount of damage that extended over a mile and triggered a demon level alarm in the nearby city."

Kagome yelped, "Wait, one PUNCH triggered that demon alarm? Are you kidding me?!"

Genos sighed as his girlfriend's voice hitched up a few notches, "No. That's why I want to train under him." There was silence on the other end of the line, "Kagome?"

She sucked in a breath, "I want to meet him."

To say that he was shocked was an understatement.

"I want to meet your teacher, Genos." This time her voice was full of determination. "I want to see for myself this strength you keep going on about."

Now he knew he made a mistake. She was going to try to spar with Saitama.

"No." Came the quick reply, "I don't mind if you meet him, but you're not going to fight him."

A light laugh came through the device, "Fight? No thanks, I'd rather watch." He felt his shoulders relax somewhat. "Besides," She continued, "I kind of want to see how he handles himself against a pissed off boyfriend."

Dark brows raised, "What do you mean?"

He thought he heard her smirk, "Getting you pissed off is one way to make you fight harder. Should I flirt with him a bit?"

"No, don't." Genos groaned, "If I have my way, you will never meet him."

"What are you gonna do? Punish me?" She chortled.

"Don't tempt me, woman." He snarled, "I'm only a 5 minute run from here!"

Kagome cooed, "My door is open!" Before he could jump to that offer, she followed that up with that a sharp change in her tone to a more serious one, "All joking aside, I want to meet your teacher you have been going on about. It's only right considering you're moving out for him, wouldn't it?"

Genos punted that lone pebble from beneath his shoe and watched it clash against a metal garbage can across the road, "You are pure evil, do you know that?" He rubbed his forehead, "Fine, I will see what I can do." His voice climbed a notch, "Can I still take up that offer though?"

A grunt, "I'm still sore, babe, but you're welcome to try." A scuffle there, and it sounded like Kagome threw something against something and the object fell with a flop, "Beside you need to pick up your damn backpack. It's taking up the whole living room!"

"I will stop by and take care of-" Genos' eyes widened, his sensors going off, and he turned sharply to the direction the alarms were going off.

It was Handsomely Masked Sweet Mask, in all of his blue-haired glory, and he looked at Genos oddly, "You do not impress me as a gentleman who would already have a lady on his arm." He remarked.

Genos frowned sharply at his unwelcomed presence, and turned back to his phone, hearing a soft question emitting from his girlfriend's lips, "Sorry, I have to hang up now. I will see you soon, okay?"

"Ah, okay." She didn't question further, "See you!"

Genos knew she wanted to say the three magic words, and so did he, but bless her for sensing it wasn't time for saying such things. "Right. See you." He clicked close his phone, "What is it that you want?" A bastard who interrupted his call with his own girlfriend was blacklisted as a bastard in his own book and didn't deserve any respect.

No matter how strong he is.

Sweet Mask rolled his wrist in a thinking gesture, "I can see that you are busy…" He gave a look, "Or were…with a call of animalistic nature I presume? Or do you even still have those capabilities considering the… ah, yes, adjustments you've made to your body?"

Genos didn't stop the flares from alighting in his hands and found himself repeating the words, "What is it that you want?" He would have blast him to the kingdom come, but for this once, Genos will allow the enemy to speak. It wouldn't be wise to injury someone with high influence over the Hero Association.

Sweet Mask pocketed his hands and sighed, "As to be expected. You must remain a symbol of beauty, not haste dear Genos." Genos glared with all of his might at the insufferable fool. The flames in his hand doubled in size. He had heard much of this 'newbie crushing' and had no interest in allowing himself to be one of their victims. If anything, Genos was determined to show this good-for-nothing waste of flesh what it meant to screw with him.

"What did you think of the certification exam?" The blue-haired male inquired as his bright eyes glinted with something dark. Was this supposed to be some kind of test?

Genos grunted, though the flames stayed, heating the metals of his hands, choosing to humor Sweet Mask's question, "It was nothing but rubbish. An exam like that is a waste of time. If you came to fight, be my guest. That too is a waste of time."

Rising a brow at the reply he received Sweet Mask tapped his index finger on his chin, "So is having a relationship. I am surprised that you would have a woman waiting for you considering your..." he slid his gaze down to Genos' body, "condition." The pointed insult did not slip past Genos unnoticed.

Biting back a growl Genos' glare became heated, fighting with his temper from coming alive, "What are you really getting at? I have far better things to do than to be chatting with the likes of you." He took a step forward past Sweet Mask but was stopped by his raised hand.

"Ah ah ah!" The unwelcomed visitor tutted, "That's no way to greet someone who came all the way here to see you." The male's eyes darkened. "All I'm saying dear Genos is that you ought to set your priorities straight." A dark aura suddenly shifted over the two of them. "It wouldn't do anyone any good if you were to say..." Sweet Mask rolled a hand again, imagining an scenario he was thinking up, "abandon a fight just for the sake of saving the life of a single woman, no?"

Genos raised his fist and struck it at the presumptuous jackass dubbed Sweet Mask. The said jackass blurred aside to dodge. Missing his target Genos blew a large crack of a crater into the road from his mechanical fist.

Sweet Mask landed a good foot away from the newly created hole, with a sinister smile and looking not a mark out of place, "Oh, did I hit a nerve? Good." Blue brows furrowed into a deep glare. "You're S-Class now. Start acting like it before I force you to."

Genos bit back a growl, rubbing his fist, "I see, so you _do_ want a fight after all." The flames came a-blazing from the palms, "I will happily humor you." After all, there must be a good reason why Sweet Mask is still in Class A.

Sweet Mask's smile grew wider, "I'm intrigued." He slowly shifted his shoulders into a battle-ready position. Before either could exchange blows, the shoji door slid open, snapping their attention. It was Saitama, who stared almost impassively at the blue-haired stranger.

He blinked at Genos and Sweet Mask, "Ah, there you are Genos. I thought I've heard something exploding..." Saitama glanced at the small crater, "Though I can see what it is now."

"Ah, sensei." Genos relaxed his position, and turned his waist into a bow, ignoring Sweet Mask's brow quirking at the mention of that word, _sensei_ , "Forgive me, I did not mean to disturb your rest."

He scratched an itch above an collarbone, shrugging at Genos' apology, "Eh, the people inside," Saitama threw a thumb over his shoulder, "were bugging me about you. Need to get your prize money, they said."

Sweet Mask stared at the interaction between the two. Any other day he would've reprimanded Genos for forgetting his place. But, there was an air of power that swirled ominously around the bald man he forgot the name of. Who was he? Sweet Mask straightened his clothes.

"We'll finish this another time, Genos." He stated smoothly, clapping a hand on Genos' shoulder. "Being hotblooded is fine but try not to take it too far," His voice dropped dangerously, the corners of his smile were pointed with sharp edges, "Otherwise you might get burnt."

Genos glared at the retreating back of his opponent, reaching into his back pocket where he'd felt Sweet Mask slip an object into. He'd need to keep a close eye on that one. Genos became distracted as his phone buzzed with a familiar message. It was from Kagome.

 _I love you baby! See you soon!_ Her words were surrounded by several floating heart emoticons. His eyes cooled at the message. That was right, he still had to pay her a visit.

"Who the heck was that guy?" Saitama eyed Sweet Mask, before he disappeared completely in the darkness, "He sounded like a douche." He murmured, turning his thumb to the direction the actor was gone into.

Genos bit back the grunt in agreement and held back his head from shaking at his teacher's naivety, "That was Handsomely Masked Sweet Mask, rank number 1 of A-Class and also a famous actor in his own right, sensei."

"Oh." Saitama still didn't look like he cared, "Anyway, go pick up your prize. It's getting pretty dark now."

"Right!" Genos went to pick up his cash, ignoring the squealing girls demanding for his attention. Apparently they overheard him and Sweet Mask and went after him because of his new role in the Hero Association. No girl was worth his time when he already had one who deserved his all.

Still he didn't fail to miss Saitama's small spark of envy at the attention he received.

Accepting the invite to walk together into the night, Saitama hummed, "Class S and Class C heroes sure get treated differently, huh..." he looked at Genos, "Though, when I put it in that way," he gestured to the cash Genos held, now doubled with the cash reward for winning the udon challenge, "Isn't that like fraud money?"

Genos lifted his eyes to his mentor from the white fold, with a small frown.

"I mean, you're a cyborg, right?" Saitama turned his head up in thoughts before he shook his head, missing Genos' deepening frown, "Ah, never mind. In any case, I guess we're a tie between a win and a loss, no?" He gave a dim smile. At least he got free supper out of this.

"Yes." Genos nodded, trying to ignore the cyborg comment. He was sure Saitama didn't mean anything by it. He pocketed his reward, with the intention to give it to Kagome for her to do some shopping, or stash it away into her savings. Genos didn't really care what she did with it, as long as she's content. It would be a grand way to spit onto that grown brat's face too.

Saitama shrugged again, "Starting today, we're professional heroes." He grinned, "So, let's do our best, right?"

He nodded, determination set in firmly in his tone, "Yes." Genos shifted his eyes down to the fold again, where on the paper said, _Welcome_! wrapped prettily in a shiny bow. When Saitama wasn't looking Genos shot a hot glare at it, remembering Sweet Mask's words.

" _All I'm saying dear Genos is that you ought to set your priorities straight._ " He envisioned that bastard's smile there, " _It wouldn't do anyone any good if you were to say...abandon a fight just for the sake of saving the life of a single woman, no?_ "

Sweet Mask clearly tried to use his morals against him.

What he didn't know was how utterly obsessed Genos was with Kagome. Though if he had his way the man would never know if he could help it. If the situation called for it, he would drop everything and come rushing to her side. That's how it'd always been between them. He wasn't about to change that aspect of their relationship now because of some stuck-up bastard.

"Hmp." Genos tucked in the cash and checked his phone for time, seeing how late he was, "Ah, sensei," Saitama stopped and turned to Genos, blinking owlishly, "I think we will part for now. I will see you in the morning, yes?"

Saitama gave a wave, his face as expressionless as ever, "Oh, sure. See ya."

Genos bowed, "Have you a good night, sensei." And he completely vanished, leaving behind a whoosh of wind.

"Eh?" Saitama stared at the empty spot Genos once was, "Why was he in such a hurry?" But, he didn't question it further, rolling his shoulders, "Oh, well, I'm missing my shows anyway." It had been a long day.

* * *

Hearing her bones cracking from her long stretch on the couch, Kagome slumped over the arm and reclining her legs over several pillows. Another slow, lazy day of bingeing on horror movies. Tomorrow, she decided, she will be more active and kick some guys' asses for some quick buck. It wasn't like she had anything better to do, and less so when her idiotic boyfriend moves out.

Speaking of which, "Where the hell is he?" Kagome muttered, glancing at the time on her phone, shining brightly in the darkness of the living room when she turned it on. It was after 11 pm, and it was nearly an hour ago when he called last. Genos hadn't texted either, though it could be him keeping his vow of being mostly text celibate.

If she wasn't so sore she'd happily reward him for his good behavior, but alas, Genos would have to settle for some cuddle sessions instead.

Kagome paused.

There was that sound...too familiar of a sound. A silent hissing among the loud metallic trampling across a hard floor. Said floor quaked beneath her, feeling the vibrations through her heaving couch. She stared at the door, her expression deadpanned.

 _Ttttrrrrrummpt!_ The dreadful noise slid to stop before her door. With scant quiet seconds passing with no doorknob turning, Kagome can practically see Genos preening himself. He was pretending that he hadn't shook the entire building and caused such a ruckus that would doubtlessly wake her neighbors at his arrival. She didn't move nor blink when he knocked to announce himself and took his entrance.

"I'm home," Genos removed his shoes.

Kagome leaned her head over the armrest, "I can tell. You shouldn't run home like that, you'll wake the neighbors." At least they didn't have many to deal with.

The two quieted as there was a uproar from around them.

"Keep it down! You're waking the neighborhood!" An elderly old woman screeched from her door outside, banging on the door with a cane. Genos shrugged off the comment as he locked the door. She was making even more of a ruckus if he could hear her with the door closed. There was a mish mash of stomping from upstairs and an indistinct wail of a baby. It was a younger couple that lived there with their infant child. The crisp sound of a male's footsteps banged around the kitchen area. Perhaps he was going to write another 'threatening' note again? It was all that man ever had the balls to do.

Kagome smirked at her boyfriend, "See? I told you."

Genos grunted. He had other things to take care of than worry about their neighbors. Besides, he had a woman to make scream his name. He slipped onto the couch and kneaded into his fingers into her flesh and angled his head in between her head and shoulder, teasing that poor bruise.

Knowing Genos' perverted plans with her-typical horny male, Kagome slammed a brake to his intentions by gently prying his hands from her person. "Uhh, no. I told you I'm still sore. No nothing but a cuddle tonight."

He slumped, now resting his chin over her shoulder to hide his pout, "Damn it!" He buried his face into the crevice between her neck and shoulder, simultaneously pressing his shoulder into her breast. He wound his arms around her waist and pulled her into a deep embrace. "I'll be back in three days time to collect on that promise." Genos muttered, shifting his legs to lay on the couch and pulled Kagome over his body into a cuddle.

Kagome side-eyed him, her vision becoming obstructed by his hard chest, "What promise?"

At that Genos grimaced, "You said I can take up the offer."

She stared at him, "I said I was _sore_ but you are welcomed to _try_. Doesn't mean you'll be successful, buddy." Kagome shook her head, rolling a bit of her torso to the back of the couch so to comfortably watch the movie, "Geez, hopeless horn dog!"

"Still as good as a promise to me." He gave an impish grin, revolving his wrists to pull her in closer and drifting his hips so to ensure some comfort, "And I'm only hopeless for you, babe."

"Again, horn dog!" Kagome grunted, catching her eyes of the giant backpack, and any teasing she felt in her system died a little at the sight.

Genos didn't miss her glance, "I'll move it soon," he assured, trailing down few fingers down her back, "after we finish the movie, okay?"

Neither wanted to say much after that, enjoying the sounds of the movie and the audible rants from the old lady outside that still wouldn't let up. At this Kagome couldn't resist remarking, "How long do you think she will keep going before her old man lobbies her back inside?"

"Ten minutes top." Genos grunted, "Just ignore the damn old hag and watch the movie."

"'kay," was his muffled reply.

An hour came and passed, with the old lady long since quieting her complaining to only her husband's ears. The movie arrived to a gristly scene of a cannibal gouging themselves on the dead body, Genos knew Kagome fell asleep. That sort of scene she would have flinched at and prompt him to squeeze her tighter in his embrace. Genos sighed at the tranquil expression Kagome held in her sleep and brushed aside a lone strand of hair from her face. Pressing a kiss on her forehead Genos pulled back his legs and thrust an arm to underneath her knees to shift her into his hold, she barely twitched when he held her warmly to his chest. She lolled her head to his shoulder, murmuring softly of some nonsense, before losing her voice to her dreamland.

Genos didn't forget to turn off the television before he paced quietly to the opened bedroom. He debated at whether if he wanted to wake Kagome to brush her teeth and wash her face, before shrugging it off. Missing one night wouldn't hurt. Tucking her in the bed, Genos attended to change his clothes into that of a simple pajama pants. His warm gaze never left her face, an odd twist turning inside his chest and found himself already missing the sight. Genos would move soon, wouldn't he? In matter of hours, no less.

Without jostling the bed he pressed his weight onto the large mattress and crawled his way to Kagome's back. Genos pressed his chest against her, and nested his chin on the black crown of her head and his hands tangling together before her bellybutton, he drew in a sigh. Genos didn't resist the call of her scent, memorizing it for days to come.

He laid there awake, taking a slow pleasure of Kagome's slumber, because he wouldn't have an opportunity to watch her sleeping for a while.

-End Chapter 2

* * *

A/N: Well, originally this chapter is going to be a massive monster, a 14k one, but Limitless think I should chop it in half, so I did. I had a specific ending in mind for chapter 2, but I think this one works out well too. The full thing was a bit of a mess, with a lot of things going on. Probably for the best, eh?

I know not much happening here, but the plot is going to be a slow burn kind, from what I and Limitless have in mind for Ordinary.

And as always, feel free to leave any feedback of any kind!

Also, I'm available on tumblr, practically there 24/7, so you can drop by and interact with me too for any reason, even Ordinary. :) My URL at tumblr is beautiful-phantom.

Beta reader: Limitless Musings


	4. 03: Longing for Home

03: Longing for Home

* * *

Genos was going through a withdrawal.

It had only been three days since he moved out of his and his girlfriend's shared apartment, to chase the opportunity to become stronger and to be a better man for Kagome. And Genos was regretting it. The phone was in his grasp, his fingers couldn't stop twitching, longing to fly over keypad to produce loving messages to his girl. But he promised he would hold himself back from 'love-bombing' her, as Kagome had put it.

He must have made quite a sight for Saitama, who was staring at him with some concern from across the table with a manga in one hand. Genos had been into the exact same position for nearly two hours now, "Uhhh, are you okay dude?"

It wasn't the first time either. His moping had become steadily worse as the days passed. The first day Genos was stiff as a statue staring at that phone for maybe 15 minutes. Second day he had been living in his tiny apartment, it was 45 or so minutes. Now it had been almost two hours. Whenever the phone vibrated it seemed to snap him out of it and Genos could move on throughout the day, tackling chores for Saitama, saying he liked to do them and taking notes on whatever he thought was important to memorize of his teacher's habits.

At first Saitama passed this off as a cyborg thing, but now he was very positive that this was an abnormal behavior. It actually kind of reminded him of withdrawal symptoms he saw in drug-heavy anime and it was a little alarming.

Genos didn't reply, as if he had became deaf to everything, even the mentor he looked at as a god-like idol.

Saitama frowned, now waving a hand in between the phone and his face, "Dude! Do I need to knock you over your head or something?! Snap out of it!"

The hand breaking his stare seemed to work and Genos blinked, lifting his head to meet Saitama's worried grimace, "Oh, sensei. What do you need?" He placed down the phone on the shiny surface of the table next to his closed notebook and forced his hands away from it to place them on his lap.

"Dudeee...you've been very weird for past few days...are you okay?" Saitama glared at him, a bit annoyed at how easily he worried he was over his new and apparently dysfunctional roommate. He tapped few fingers on the wood, impatient and vexed at Genos' silence.

Genos blinked again, "I was? Forgive me sensei. I did not intend to alarm you..."

"Well, you did. At least explain yourself." Saitama ran a hand over his bald head, "Do you need to be charged at night or something? Like phones?" He really didn't know much about cyborgs, so he felt pretty ignorant. Still, he highly doubted that Genos' behavior was normal, even for a cyborg.

A frown tugged his lips, Genos fixated his gaze at his sensei. He was pretty sure that he had mentioned his girlfriend a copious amount of times, bordering on the obsessive side of how much a person could talk about another. Then again, he didn't think that his teacher heard much of his talk as Saitama didn't have much patience with his 'rambling'.

He opened his mouth, to launch into an explanation of his situation with Kagome, when his phone buzzed to life. Excited and not thinking twice Genos snatched the device and saw it actually ringing for his attention, instead of a text notification, "Excuse me sensei!" He stood up and took off to outside the apartment for some privacy.

Saitama's eyes followed his back, a mass confusion took over his entire being, "Well, okay?!" He threw his arms at Genos, before flopping down into a familiar position to resume his reading of the manga when Genos disappeared around the bend, "Well then." He muttered. Saitama didn't think more of Genos' oddness for a time being. Some things will come to revelation on their own time, he decided.

Genos pressed his back against the wall, having double-checked the door to be completely closed. He loathed whenever he was eavesdropped on his conversation with Kagome. The last incident didn't end so well for one nosy bystander. "Oh, you won't be home tonight?" He tried hard to not let his disappointment to seep into his voice, crossing his arm to an elbow, "...I see. So, when can I expect to see you again? It's already the third day after all, and I do believe we are overdue-" Genos felt his expression pinching with misery, when she gave her profound apology, "Yes, yes, I understand, you are bored and you want to put more into the savings. I could have helped fill that back up, you know..." He heaved, stopping himself from begging her to postpone her job, "But why did they request you farther out of the city in the first place?"

He frowned, "It was a rank S criminal? Kagome! You should've asked for me to go with you!" Genos palmed his face, "Yes, I know they bring in the high amount of cash, but they are ver-" A scowl screwed his expression, before dropping it with defeat, "Yes, I understand. I know you are capable. I'm just worried for you." The voice on the other end grew annoyed, sharpened with heightened notches, "I know, I know. I've promised to give you space, and I am doing that...doesn't mean I'm not worried, Kagome." He assured quickly, "Well, couldn't you call me in an hour so I can know of your progress on the bounty? It would rest my concerns and I'm always a call away if you need help." Genos nodded to the phone, "Yes, I will come and find you if you do not call by then, you do know that, right?"

The frown faded to a smile, "Yes, I know. Ah, I can text you? Keep it 20 texts or less per hour? I can definitely do that." He relaxed his posture, "Ah, you have to go then. I understand. Please do not forget to call back within an hour, okay? I'd appreciate it." Genos clenched his chest, the smile growing, "Yes, thank you. I love you too. Will hear from you soon." He hung up, the smile was dropped to that of bitter disappointment.

He fought the itch to slam his fists into a nearby building and level it in his irritation. Due to the stupidness of his decision he hadn't seen Kagome in three days.

Three. Whole. Days.

He spent his time mulling over his notes that he had taken over Saitama. Once he exhausted those resources he pulled out the ones he had taken of his girlfriend. Reading over those journals always brought a smile to his face as he could clearly picture the images he had described, but it wasn't quite like the real thing. He wanted her and he wanted her right. Now.

His growls brought Saitama out of his seclusion, "Dude, you okay? You were all growly and shit."

Genos shut up and immediately bowed at the waist, offering his sensei a sincere apology, "Forgive me sensei, I was just irritated."

"For...?" Saitama rose a brow.

He shook his head, "It is nothing, sensei, I've just landed myself into a personal dilemma is all."

Saitama didn't quite believe him, but let it drop, "Well, whatever, come on inside and watch TV or something. Take your mind off."

"Right." Genos followed his mentor inside and took his spot next to Saitama.

The news anchor rattled on. First it was Handsomely Masked Sweet Mask's new thriller film, _Night of the Blood Lambs'_ success at the box office. Now it was about the 'friendly' competition between Sweet Mask and Genos. A report had followed the men and snapped pictures of them outside the restaurant. Rumors of a feud began to spread like wildfire. Saitama yawned at it. Man, he only invested in a TV to watch out for natural disasters, not to listen to some middle aged man with nothing better to do but prattle on about celebrities. Speaking of, his dark eyes turned towards Genos. He wondered how much of celebrity his "disciple" was now that he became S-Class.

"This is boring!" He complained, grabbing the remote control to surf to something else other than the news.

Genos frowned-if he was bored, he should be out filling his quota. Or perhaps he had forgotten? Biting back a sigh at Saitama's scatterbrained nature, "Sensei, will you be alright?"

Saitama quirked an eyebrow, "Huh?" He didn't intend to prompt Genos into one of his many tenacious speeches.

"I've noticed that you haven't done anything as of late. According to the seminar, a week of inactivity will drop you from the Hero Registry. All C-rank heroes have quotas that they must fill. You might not be aware because you're used to battling larger monsters and evil organizations, but C-ranked heroes mainly address purse-snatchers, robbers, and street assailants to keep and promote their ranks. Will you be alright? It'd be no good if you were to drop out suddenly because of inactivity. I have faith in you, sensei. As Kagome likes to say, there's nothing that a bit of elbow grease can't fix. Try your hardest and you'll find something before the deadline. Regardless I'll follow you no matter what path you choose. If you're forced out of the association then I'll leave with you…"

The first few sentences Genos said placed a screeching halt of his brain, and Saitama stared at Genos slack-jawed. His skin became a startling shade of white. Every word the cyborg spoke afterwards became muted and jumbled but a certain sentence he spoke refused to stop ringing in his ears.

 _A week of inactivity will drop you from the Hero Registry._

He had only two days left. He was going to be fired! For the first time in many years, Saitama felt the small jolt of fear push his body into action.

Saitama yelped, jumping up to his feet, "They said that!? If I don't meet my quota in a one week I'll be dropped?!"

"Yes." Genos tilted his head in confirmation, his eagle eyes watching as his teacher reached a new level of panic he had never seen before. He subtly recorded the event so as to properly note these new reactions. Although he wasn't fond of seeing his mentor in this state, it was definitely different. Perhaps throwing curve balls at Saitama would enable him to learn more about his strength?

Genos continued his ramble, "Because there's a large amount of C-Class heroes the bar was set low. With over 300 members the association council has to figure out a way to weed out the weak ones. In this case, they're divesting themselves of the garbage by judging them by their activity level." He wagged a finger, racking his memories for further details, "Most C-Class Heroes do not last long unless they're proactive about seeking such opportunities as purse snatchers and lost cats. Typically the heroes that only joined for fun grow discouraged and change jobs. If they cannot produce results then no one will pay them any attention. They will also never get a rank or class promotion."

This revelation made Saitama even more fretful. He threw on his yellow jumpsuit, "This is no time to be reading manga or watching TV!"

Genos followed suit. He was eager to plaster someone's face into a wall and make it shatter. To say that he was sexually frustrated was an understatement. Why had he been so damn foolish as to agree to this so suddenly? His body ached for his woman's touch and she…was not going to be back for a few more days. Genos felt the all too familiar pull of anger and need. Damn it all. "I'll come with you!" He attempted to plead with his teacher but Saitama had other ideas.

"No! You're in S-Class! You'll only get credit from everything I do!"

Genos started to feel desperate. He didn't want to be left behind again! He just wanted something to kill right now! "But I'm your pupil…" He wilted somewhat at the refusal. Couldn't a guy get a break?

"Genos!" Saitama halted his desperation, though he did have a hint of uncertainty in his suddenly serious expression, "My strong desire to be a hero had led me to train and get strong. You're a cyborg so physical training means nothing, a moot point." Genos bit back a frown at that but listened with attentive ears, "You might be able to get stronger simply with right attitude. So, train your spirit before worrying about strength via pure power or technology." Saitama sucked in a breath, his gaze becoming firmer, "Maybe try to aim to make the top ten of the Class S ranking and find your way to become stronger." He saluted to Genos with a small upturn of his lips, "That's your training for now."

It didn't take Genos long to rush to the table and streak the pen across a blank page into his notebook, to commemorate Saitama's wisdom, "Right, of course!"

"Good!" Saitama gave a serious nod, turning away to the door with a great sweep of his cape, "Now, if you will excuse me, I need to fulfill my quota." _I totally pulled that outta my ass_. He sweated at that thought, feeling like a liar to the extreme.

Before Genos could say even one word Saitama was gone, the door latching shut to signal his departure. Genos wilted again, and blew up with a string of curses, "God damn it I wanted to bust something!" He barely held himself back from breaking the table. His sensei wouldn't approve.

Genos growled under his breath. The low throb of need and frustration kept him from returning to his normal hobbies of stalking the Hero Association website and scouring the news for disasters. He stood up and calmly walked into the bathroom. He kicked the door closed and quietly locked it. His teacher would likely be gone a while and Kagome wasn't around so there was only one thing left to do. The sound of a zipper being undone echoed in the tiny apartment. For once, Genos was glad that no one was around. At least it'd grant him a bit of peace during this necessary time.

* * *

It took over a day lying in the wait for her targets, but it was totally worth the while, Kagome decided. Of course assuring her boyfriend that she was perfectly unharmed hourly was annoying enough, but understandably so. She really didn't understand how some criminals even gained the S rank in the first place, considering how easily they fell to her surprise attacks.

Well, no need to look the gift horse in its mouth. Kagome rolled her shoulders, feeling some kinks from sleeping in a super cramped space from last night, not minding the three men's miserable groans from behind her. All of the collars of their shirts pulled easily in one hand, Kagome hummed a song she heard the other day. It was a perfectly nice day this afternoon, with the happy sun floating across the sky, the birds were chirping, and the busybodies were staring slack-jawed at the sight of a tiny woman with three unconscious men dragging behind her.

Those men were scary looking, equipped with leather, spikes, white handlebar mustaches, and they were about as twice as big as Kagome was.

Oh, certainly not as big as her previous bounty, but altogether they would have probably reached his size easily.

For S-Class criminals, they were pretty pitiful.

Kagome stretched out an arm as she continued down her path. Her feet scuffled lightly as she trudged through the empty street. Due to her extra burden very few people were brave enough to come around. Kagome stepped up onto the sidewalk, dragging the posse of overgrown idiots behind her. There was a trio of painful grunts as her hand was jerked backwards. What? She threw a nasty glare at them, shifting back to her balance thinking that they might've been trying to escape again. However the sight that greeted her made her want to sigh in frustration.

The men's faces were plastered to the concrete. There was a thin trail of blood from their noses when they collided into the hard barrier of the curbside. With a huff Kagome effortlessly lifted them into the air and then plopped them back down on top of the sidewalk. They groaned their pain as she resumed dragging them, face first into the ground, towards the local police station that was still some distance away.

Damn idiots. Always getting in the way.

She didn't notice that those idiots were leaving behind a trail of blood on the concrete and brick path-not that it would matter much to her had she known.

The area where the poor fools cracked their noses against the curbside were slowly becoming lively again, when people became brave enough to trek back to their destinations. It was some minutes later when a familiar face emerged from the fretting crowd, his ears catching some murmurs and his eyes spotting the line of red.

"Did you see that girl? She, like, was totally owning these big dudes!" A schoolgirl shrieked, her voice meshed with awe and fear.

Her friend squawked, chortling, "I know right?! Those dudes must be _totalllyyy_ weak!"

"Hm." He was intrigued. Ignoring some bystanders' warnings to not follow the blood trail, he did just that, keeping his chin up above the busybodies' heads to search for the one responsible for that scarlet stream.

Ah, there they are. Letting out an impressed whistle at the sight of the posse of unconscious men, he paused to admire their wounds. "Huh, direct hits too." These men were littered with bruises, though it could be the fact they had been dragged across hard grounds for quite some time. The darkest bruises were on their faces, around their eyes, but they weren't as telling much of how a mere little woman took them down as he'd hoped.

Damn, perhaps a direct confrontation was needed.

Before he could zip over to where she was, she stopped and turned, giving a glare. He paused, a bit impressed that she could detect him from among the lingering, nervous crowd.

"What is it that you want," her blue eyes lit up in recognition before they sharpened, "...ah hell you're that narutard!"

His expression darkened.

"What'd you just call me?" He flexed his hand to expose a set of deadly kunai knives, "I don't believe we've met."

He shifted into a battle stance. He originally just wanted to talk to her. But, the insult to his pride would not permit him to let her leave unscathed. He wouldn't kill her. At least not yet. He still had questions he wanted answered. Certainly with a bit of pain here and there though.

Kagome gave him a scowl, "Knock it off before I break your teeth." She pointed at him as she issued her threat. He nearly laughed at the image she made. Quite the fiery spirit, he would enjoy this.

"Tis only proper if we give out our names, no?" He twirled a kunai, light glinting dangerously from it.

She grimaced, "Why would I wanted to know somebody with broken balls' names?"

He paled, before darkening, "Now what do you mean by that? My balls are perfectly intact. Although," He suddenly appeared beside her, his warm breath brushing against the shell of her ear, "If you doubt me, I can show you." The smile slipped into something quite ominous.

On reflex Kagome jerked one man of her posse and swung him fast, surprising the nameless speedster. He streaked behind her, just as the wall of a building exploded upon the impact, eliciting a groan from Kagome's handpicked living weapon. The hit was clearly meant for him.

He gaped at the crater. His pale eyes glided to the groaning biker Kagome easily held up by his collar and then to her glare, "You wanna try that again? I have a boyfriend, so I'd prefer you to respect that." She lifted a finger to point at him, while dangling the poor bastard. His face was beyond recognizable with black bloody lumps.

Somehow the speedster scowled at that, "Oh? I think we can remedy that little aspect." He dove around her arms equipped with the unconscious men, he plowed his leg toward her defenseless back only to find himself be thrown back by the force of...something _invisible_. Flipping away to the ground before he could smash into the building, his face contorted into confusion. What in the hell did he just collide with? It was like smashing his foot into a steel wall!

Kagome's face turned cocky, "Keep it up dickless wonder. I've got plenty more where that came from!"

His blade sung when he released it from the sheath, "Just what kind of technique is this?!" He snarled, vanishing into blurs, streaking and circling around the berth Kagome created. This invisible… barrier hummed at every one of his slashes, arousing only colorful ripples of power to pulsate beneath his weight. His eyes narrowed. How strange. He slashed again only for a much brighter wave to push forward. The ninja dove to the opposite side and tried again to be met with the same response. So this was her power. She could manipulate whatever this source was as a malleable shield. It moved fluidly like water and rose up to protect her at the shift of a wind.

A small smirk spread across his lips. Now things were getting interesting.

Kagome grunted as she tossed the heaviest man of her posse at the speedster's head. She kept a firm grip on the bastard's greasy, white hair. Her fingers dug painfully into her bounty's scalp. Damn, where'd he go? Another flash of black darted around her. The ninja smirked as he realized that he was gaining the upper hand. Even with that barrier in place she couldn't land a hit on him.

He moved. Noticing the way that she was shifting the other two of the group, he lifted his hand just high enough to block against the barrage of attacks from her human punching bags. It was then that he realized that she had turned in the opposite direction. It was a fake out! His stormy eyes widened as he saw what part of her body he was about to come into contact with. There was a shock to his senses as a soft breast filled the palm of his hand. He fought the urge to blush.

Kagome on the other hand roared in fury. She threw her arms together and spun around quickly, swinging all three of her bounty together as an extended baseball bat. The speedster darted away, his hand still burning from the inappropriate, if not accidental, touch.

"You sleazy son of a bitch!" Kagome growled, "I'll get you back for that!"

It was then that a cloud of smoke blew past them. There was a glimmer of light that briefly blinded the slim man followed by a _familiar_ masculine war cry. What the hell was that?

It was only after the dust settled that the image clicked in his head. It was that baldy! What was he wasting his time here for?

He huffed, sheathing his blade, "As much as I wanted to play with you, unfortunately I have other things to attend to." He straightened up his back, and the creepy smile slid back on his face, "My name is Sonic! Speed o' Sound Sonic! Tell me your name, woman, for we will fight again!"

Kagome glared, shaking a man threatening at Sonic, "You fucking pervert! I'm telling my boyfriend about you so he can _kill_ you!"

Sonic shrugged, his smile widening, "I'll call you Tits then!"

"SON OF A BITCH, NO WAY IN HELL!" She brayed, ignoring how her bounties were wincing at her tightening grip or the fact that she was stomping a mini crater beneath her feet.

"Tits it is! See you around, Sugartits!" He slipped off into a black streak, zipping past Kagome. She shrieked when she felt him pressing a light kiss upon her mouth.

The wall of a building across the road exploded with a man she tried to get Sonic with, her lungs in full effect with her voice, "IT'S KAGOME YOU FUCKING PERVERT! JUST WAIT UNTIL MY MAN GETS HIS HANDS ON YOU! YOU'RE DEAD MEAT! YOU HEAR ME? DEAD. FUCKING. MEATTT!" She howled, offended by his nickname and that kiss he pressed upon her so quickly she was sure she imagined it.

Sonic crackled, now several streets away, "Oohh, she's got _ffffire_!" He clenched the palm he accidentally molested Kagome's breast with, not over how soft it was, and licked across his lips tasting remnants of Kagome's watermelon flavored balm, "I like that one. Perhaps I should find out who her man is and challenge him? It'd be fun to have her watch as I beat him to a pulp!"

Kagome swiftly deposited her bounties. Once the officers delivered her the promised reward, she stood outside the police station to open up her phone and called Genos. She normally preferred to text as it was much faster. But, this time an actual conversation was warranted. Kagome growled as the dial tone continued for what seemed like eternity. Finally, he picked up on the other end.

"Are you alright? How'd it go?" His breathy voice was nearly frantic.

She fought the urge to scream, "GO KILL HIM!" After the words left her mouth she clapped her lips, realizing that she lost against that whim.

Genos' brows shot up, "Him? Him who? Why do you want me to kill him?" His voice became harsh and threatening, now breathing heavily. Kagome warmed slightly at her boyfriend's protectiveness, hearing a hissing of his chest vents.

"Guy said his name was Sonic the Sugar Glider or something," She growled beneath her breath, "But that doesn't matter right now you just need to find him and beat his ass to death!"

Now he was concerned, "What'd he do?" The question came out much more harsh than he intended. The desire to kill was rising.

"HE FUCKING GROPED ME!" People scattered at her shriek, muttering how insane she was.

In the distance a building blew up.

"I'll be there shortly."

Unfortunately Genos never found the bastard his girlfriend begged him to kill. The frustration he felt earlier skyrocketed. He was finally given the chance to destroy something and he couldn't even find his target? What kind of S-Class Hero was he?

Genos had decided to call it a day after ravaging two full cities in search of this 'Sonic the Sugar Glider'. Such a strange name for one to have. It reminded him of one of those perverted types that walked around in a trench coat only to open it and flash themselves. Judging from Kagome's story, he believed that, that wouldn't be too far off from the truth with the suspect.

Not to mention the name was oddly familiar...Could that be the Speed o' Sound Sonic Saitama encountered some time ago, or was that a different Sonic? Genos would find out later, he was sure.

He spent that night back at Kagome's apartment. Not forgetting Saitama Genos quickly dropped a text to his sensei to let him know that he wouldn't return that night. Instead he spent the remainder of the evening back at her apartment. She'd been so busy fussing about the incident that he didn't get the chance to properly _reassure_ her. The following morning Genos found himself narrowing his eyes in irritation. He was so damn frustrated! His girlfriend stomped to and fro, muttering curses as she went about. An image flashed in his mind. She was always quite the potty mouth in bed. A smirk spread across his lips. Perhaps he could convince her now?

Before he could make a move, his phone went off. He glared at it. Damn thing was becoming a cock blocker! The only reason he hadn't chucked it out the window was because he still needed it to contact his girlfriend when he returned to his teacher's apartment, the other was because it was the association calling. Genos sighed. Resigned to his fate of going yet another day without feeling the soft touch of his woman, he flipped open the phone.

"Genos, we need you to eliminate a threat." The voice on the other end was serious, indicating a dire problem.

His brows furrowed, "What kind of threat?"

* * *

Kagome stared at her phone, with the alarm blaring in the background. The sky was darkening with the comet approaching a city away. Genos hadn't stopped spamming her with texts, pleading with her to evacuate. Even when he was in the direct target of the alien object sure to end his life.

Her stomach twisted at the thought of him being gone. He was an utterly, miserable bolts and nuts sack of an idiot! Tears biting at her eyes, and she looked up, surprised to see how red the meteor was when it was tearing apart the sky for the earth. If Genos wouldn't leave, then she wouldn't either. She'd rather face the end with him together, even if at a distance.

And besides, her barrier was practically impenetrable, Kagome knew to have some confidence in it. The meteor would be a good way to test just how unbreakable the barrier truly was. Genos always seemed to forget that little fact, regardless of how much of a danger magnet she was.

A large whoosh of air fled her lips, she propped her rear onto a pillow and glared through the opened window at the ever-growing meteor. She ignored how the curtains were bellowing into her face and didn't bother fixing them into place, her hands twitching and twisting the skin of her elbows. A nervous habit long since pointed out by Genos but never was tamed.

Slamming her hands down to her lap where the phone was cradled and she forced her scrambling mind to calm. Kagome gathered her complete resolve and meditated, feeling her invisible barrier blossoming to protect her tiny apartment and the rest of the building her home resided in. It was a very strange sensation, one that gave her a fright when she first attempted experimenting with her un-nameable power few years ago, where it felt like spiders skittering and crawling all inside her body, invading her very soul with their thin, creepy legs.

Now the sensation was warm and familiar, where her mind could retreat into to silence the wavering, whispering words.

She refocused back to the meteor and blinked when she saw flashes of twisting lights exploding at it. Black smoke covered the sky.

Kagome frowned. Genos hardly used missiles, especially the much larger ones. He's a cyborg preferring the weapons that could fit inside his own body. This wasn't her idiot's work. It was someone else's, and clearly, after the smoke cleared, they didn't put a dent into the meteor at all.

Biting her lips at how extremely close the meteor was, Kagome forced herself to have some faith in Genos. The lithe hands were balling over the now-quiet phone in her lap, her shoulders board and straight.

 _If he survives, I will kill him! If he dies, I will find a way to revive and kill him dead twice!_ Kagome roared to herself, tears again biting at her cheeks, but she refused to let them fall.

Yet another blare of light boomed, this time it was a thick twirling light, a singular beam of burning hot laser, a telling sign that this was the work of Genos'. And he used his Core to perform it. Kagome stopped the sneer from touching her lips-that sort of thing was extremely risky, considering the Core is a cyborg version of the human heart.

After the light thinned out to nothingness, Genos failed also when it became apparent the meteor was refusing to stop. The air through her window became blistering hot, and she felt a tear dropping from an eye.

The phone pinged, and Kagome didn't dare not to look at it, a thumb unconsciously turning it on and took in what may be Genos' final message.

 _I'm sorry. Please be safe._

She choked a sob, but couldn't resist replying.

 _I'm not leaving. I love you._

When she pressed to send, the meteor suddenly fell apart and rained burning rocks and stones. And it rained far and wide, when few shattered at her barrier into gravels. The sky was red, but the city survived, if with repercussions. The alarm still whirred with evacuation warnings, but they seemed to be a bit quieter now.

 _Are you okay?!_

It was Genos, and he was still alive enough to text her.

 _I'm going to kill you!_ Was a shocked Kagome's response. _What happened?!_

Genos didn't bray at her threat but continued on, _Sensei saved us!_ _He appeared when we needed him the most and he jumped and punched the meteor into pieces!_ Typical Genos went into a tirade again, but Kagome was never more relieved to see his rambling, even through the screen of her phone.

 _Where are you? I need to see you._ Genos ended his praising of his teacher, and deflected himself back to his beloved. _I love you too._

Kagome twitched a smile, ignoring how a piece of burning hot meteor exploded right in front of her face and momentarily blinded her, _I'm still going to kill you, but I'm inside my apartment. Get your ass in here._ _Please. I need to see you_.

Genos didn't text anymore after that, and she knew he was already on his way. Kagome clenched the phone to her chest, and finally allowed herself to have a very good cry.

By the time her boyfriend arrived, she was a blubbering mess. He quickly took her into his embrace. He was quick to brush her legs over his arms as he picked her up and carried her into the master bedroom. Kagome threaded one of her hands into his hair as his lips crashed onto hers. Genos slammed the door close with his foot as he showered his woman with his affection. Desperation and the fear of death egged them on. The rest of the night and the following day they spent in each other's naked arms.

He gripped Kagome's waist tighter. He wasn't going to let go. Not now, not ever.

* * *

It had been fulfilling three days spent well with Genos and also emotionally draining. In truth Kagome was both a little sad and glad to see him go, when he was due to return to his mentor. Sad that he was leaving her again, and glad that she could get a break to rest her tired body.

He kind of was beginning to disregard his vow to stay texting celibate though, when her phone saw an steady increase of messages over the week he was gone. Kagome huffed at it, tugging on her fingerless gloves.

A job request called to her attention, and her savings still were a long way to go before they were at a comfortable level she preferred it to be at. This lousy apartment took a huge chunk of it and the rent was far from cheap, more so when she became the recent sole resident. Ignoring yet another text notification she pulled away from her made bed, thrusting an arm inside an oversized hoodie.

Pulling her head out of the obnoxiously pink shirt and tugging it down to over her torso. Kagome turned her head to the television, where it was showing a live scene displaying a bank being robbed. It was local. And Kagome recognized the robbers.

"Ah, hell! These are my cash!" And they're going to make a run for it!

Without thinking twice Kagome rushed out, with her phone lying neglected on the mattress. It constantly lit up with notifications all in its lonesome even when the apartment became darker over time.

An ominous shadow fell over the dying phone through the window, in a shape of giant scythe that blotted out even the sun, and it swept.

A green blade-like limb smashed into the apartment. It cut through the bricks like a knife through butter. Mortar flew across the sky, landing into heaps of rubble on the ground below, denting craters. The small device was left defenseless against such a massive attack. With another swipe, it was shattered into several tiny pieces, among the rest of the building. The rampage went on for a few seconds. With only two or three more downswings of its limbs, the unknown creature had managed to level the entire complex into near nothingness. Insectuous eyes tilted and turned. It needed another nest. This one was too small.

"Attention all citizens. An immediate evacuation has been called. Please head to your nearest shelter. The Danger Level has been raised to Demon in this area. A large monster has appeared in the southernmost quarters. I repeat, please evacuate to the nearest shelter. The Danger Level is now Demon!"

Kagome's head snapped to the alarming announcement just as she stepped down to the final step of the local police station, the thick wad of cash pocketing into her dandy-handy yellow backpack, _where in the southernmost quarter?!_

She didn't pause, her feet floating across the concrete, pushing away the crowd that was rushing in the opposite direction of hers. A hand shot out and grasped her elbow, "You're going the wrong way, madam!"

The good Samaritan ended up slamming on his rear, baffled and sore, with Kagome still fleeing. He was quite fortunate she restrained herself.

Kagome ignored the screams demanding her to twist her feet and go with the mass panic behind her. She even ignored slurs at her apparent idiocy. What mattered right now was her apartment. Was it safe?

Her lungs burned when she arrived at the sight of the giant praying mantis slashing down the neighboring complexes. Several heroes laid across the ground, barely alive. With a single quick glance they were incredibly lucky they still had all of their limbs.

Hot rage overtook her at the sight of the former building that was once her residence, crumbled into pieces on the ground. The monster's feet crunched through it, a huge scythe was in a progress of swinging to down another complex.

She didn't think through her actions, familiar motions coursed through her body like a daily routine. Her feet zipped across between two buildings that were still standing, until she leapt upon the very height equaling to its head. The praying mantis twisted its head, noticing her presence with its bulbous eyes, and with a single hop Kagome landed on its ocellus.

It shrieked from confusion. Not one pest was able to get on its head! Before it could take a swipe at the unwelcomed invader perching on its skull, Kagome spread out one palm across the smooth green shell and reeled back another arm, now sparking with a rippling pink barrier. Her lips pulled back, showing her teeth. She gave an angry, dark scowl, "This is for my APARTMENTTTTT!"

-End Chapter 3

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A/N: Well, to be totally honest, I'm not really sure how I felt about this chapter? :/ Still, next chapter should be more fun though!

A question for you good, wonderful readers-should I tag this in humor genre or no? I don't think it'll be as funny in later chapters to be honest. I'm just asking because a _certain somebody_ wouldn't stop laughing at this chapter.

Yes I'm talking about you Limitless.

True, Genos and Kagome have a lot of antics they pulled each other into, but they both have good reasons for it. Genos more so. There's a good hint back in the prologue, if you looked carefully. It's at somewhere near the end. Ask yourself this: _Why would he say specifically that?_ You'll have your clue, lol.

And yup, I did say this before, but yes, there are some differences between my Ordinary and Limitless' Simplicity. Don't lobby us with pitchforks, ahahah.

Anyways, as always, please leave me any feedback and let me know what you think. Reviews feed my soul!

PS. I'm intending to post this on A03 also, so if you prefer that website to this one, look forward to it! :)

 _Limitless Notes:_ *Raises hands* I fully admit to laughing like a damn idiot throughout most of this chapter (save for the meteor scene). Particularly the image of Sonic running around in a trench coat flashing people his broken eggs. Just for fun I looked up an image of a Sugar Glider mid "flight" and laughed at the picture. I'm a very strange cookie sometimes. Anyways, show Beautiful Phantom some love and let her know how much you adore her! She's the source of my muse! Bahahah XD


	5. 04: Meal for Two

04: Meal for Two

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Kagome growled as she took in the destruction around her. The apartment had been leveled to the ground. Thick globs of green slime was splattered across the ground and her person like some macabre artist's idea of a masterpiece. With a bellowing scream Kagome's fingers curled into a fist as she threw it into the broken concrete. The ground caved beneath the pressure, creating a fresh crater three times her size.

"Damn it all! This fucking sucks!" She bellowed, and many colorful curses followed closely behind. Her hand went to her pocket to reach for her phone. Genos needed to know. He'd have a panic attack if she didn't contact him soon anyways. Feeling the biting edge of irritation, she tried to grasp for the device. However her hand hit only air and a chill of fear went down her spine. Where was it? Kagome patted her pockets. Her eyes widened. Her phone was missing! She threw her backpack down and rummaged through it. Nothing! It was then that something black shimmered against the fading light of the sky. She squinted at it. Was that…? She felt her heart sink. It was.

She took a few slow steps and picked up what was left of her phone. It'd been destroyed. The cell had been utterly and completely massacred by the overgrown pest. She gnashed her teeth and screamed her frustration.

"Fuck!" Small bits of debris flew when she made the crater larger.

Now how was she supposed to get ahold of her boyfriend? Sitting here for a few hours wasn't exactly an appealing idea.

A glob of green goop slid past her hood—thankfully she had it on her head prior to nuking the oversized bug into pieces-and she cringed, dropping remnants of her phone to the rubble below.

 _Fuck, she needed a bath._

The spatter across her form was minor, but having it on herself was a disgusting sensation. Kagome slid the hoodie off and chucked it aside, uncaring she was only clad in her neon orange sportbra. Better half-naked than being dirty, she rationalized.

"Ughhhhhh!" She felt like crying.

Her saving was still under six digits, her boyfriend moving out, some gross ball-less pervert groping her, and now _this_. She lost her freakin' apartment to some overgrown insect looking to drop some eggs from its ass. What a way to _go_! What a couple of _shitty_ weeks it had been!

There is no way in hell she'd be able to get another place within matters of hours _or_ days, much less on meager savings she was _still_ working her ass off to save more. Shits like this would only wipe the savings to under _zero_!

Hoping against hope she would be able to scavenge some of her favorite clothes and objects, she pulled aside ten floors worth of the debris, biting back tears. Throwing aside a huge cracked slab of concrete, something small and metallic caught her eyes. She deflated upon recognizing it, "And of _course_ that survived." She muttered, digging it out. It was a chest, no larger than her torso, made of metal. It looked plain but was obviously welded with love. She shook it, and it rattled, triggering some odd sound of buzzing from inside, "Well they sound fine, so that's good. Don't need to spend 12000* yens plus to replace one." Kagome muttered. She popped it open and reached in to turn off the buzzing, before shutting it close, "And into my backpack you go, you beautiful box." She patted it fondly.

With it disposed properly in her sunflower yellow bag, Kagome continued her search. Anything to take her mind off of the impending grief that followed the loss of her home.

In under an hour she was able to recover some of her intact although dirty clothes and surprisingly her computer that survived the overgrown praying mantis. Kagome tapped on the thick metal skin Genos insisted on installing on it some months past, and hummed at it, "Well, guess I have to thank him later." Pity there was no functioning internet here. She'd contact Genos if it had. With a sigh she pocketed it inside her now bloated backpack, "Guess I'd have to go to him." She sealed it with a loud zip.

Holstering it up on her back Kagome hopped off the thick layer of the debris that was taller than her, lifting dust to her knees when her feet met the paved road, "Where the heck does this Sai guy live again?" The address was in her phone, but she didn't memorize it. "Damn...I know it's in Z City..." Abandoned section Genos said, she thought.

Not looking back to her flattened apartment lest she'd cry again, Kagome took off in a light jog before any media would arrive. After the fiasco where she became a small time criminal celebrity in the eyes of public, she wasn't feeling up for dealing with them. At least the media wouldn't be able to access it until some guy from Hero Association took a look around first. For safety they'd always insisted.

Speaking of which, she wondered why no one official looking had come by yet. It had been over an hour now and the fallen hero wannabes had been able to crawl away to only gods know where.

Well, not like it really mattered to her, she decided, setting off to a vague destination she had in mind.

Some half an hour later Genos slid to stop before the flattened building, his pale face somehow whiter at the sight. "Kagome!" He leapt onto a large piece of concrete, his eyes whirring bright, scanning for any bodies buried underneath, alive or dead. To his relief it was a pure brush of luck the building was empty prior to the attack. He glared at the headless body of the giant monster that laid ahead of him, still twitching but doubtlessly dead.

Saitama appeared, blinking at the demolished surrounding, "That's an ugly bug. Did you do that?" He pointed at the green ooze and the body that was probably the length of five school buses.

Genos grimaced, before hopping his way over to analyze it further. He pushed a tip of his boot into what remained of its neck, turning the green body over. Carefully he crouched before it, his still lit eyes examining the exposed cervix with jagged, oozing rim of the shell. Recognizing the handiwork, he released the breath he was holding, "No, it's my girlfriend that ended this destruction. Thanks goodness...but where is she?" There was a crater too, in the middle of the debris...with a familiar pink hoodie lying next to it.

Saitama was reeling, "Oh, you have a girlfriend?!" He watched Genos jumping back to the leveled building, and saw him snagging the ruined shirt in his hands.

Genos looked back, rising a brow at his sensei's obliviousness, "Yes, I've mentioned her four hundreds and fourteen times since we've met." His fingers curled into the dyed cotton, feeling stress that coursed through the fibers of his metal anatomy and the artificial saliva swelled at the back of his throat.

"...You actually counted that?" Saitama sweated, finding this a touch disturbing.

Genos pulled the pink fabric wide, examining it and sneering at the splotches of green across it, before folding it to his nose and breathed deeply for that familiar smell of her favorite shampoo, "Yes, this is hers." He glanced about, scanning for any more evidence, "I was curious to see how many times I'd talk about her before you realized who she was." He admitted.

"That's just creepy dude!" Saitama threw a finger in accusation at Genos, "Keeping count like that."

His disciple disregarded his outburst when a look of panic took his expression when he didn't see anything that appeased him, "Where is she?!"

Saitama frowned at the Genos' panicking state. It was a little odd to see him, being a cyborg, to behave in such a way, having been used to him being of an over-talkative stoic character. Panic wasn't a good look on him. He rubbed his head as his ears started to go deaf to Genos' rant and his eyes sliding to the dead creature, "If she did _that_ ," he gestured to it, "she should be fine though?" Saitama shrugged, "I mean, you said it yourself, your girlfriend kicks ass."

Genos immediately turned to his sensei. He dipped into a low bow, "Please, help me find her!"

Saitama scratched the back of his head, uncomfortable with Genos' begging, "Haven't you called her? I'm sure she'd appreciate that a bit more than some stranger chasing her down." He glanced over at Genos.

Genos shook his head, "I already tried. It keeps going to voicemail. It never goes to voicemail!" His voice rose a pitch and Saitama found himself with a nearly frantic disciple. Why did he always end up in these situations?

Now that he thought about it Genos kept calling his phone in the midst of insisting Saitama to come with him when there was a sighting of a large monster in Y City...despite the fact that they were some hours away stopping some wild gangs. In which Genos was given credit for. Again.

"Alright, I'll help. Where would she normally go?" Might as well get some information out of the kid while he was at it.

Genos racked his brain for clues. "There's only a few places she'd go. The first being the doctor's but I called him earlier and he hadn't heard from her either. Which means that she's likely gone to Z City to find me. I told her that you live there but I don't think she knows where exactly…" Genos rambled off as a rare expression of horror took over his face. Kagome didn't know where to find him! He needed to search for her! Saitama patted him on his shoulder, halting that spike of panic he felt.

"Good, now we have somewhere to start. I'll head back into town and start looking close to the apartment. You circle the outer area and see if you can catch any signs of her. That sound good?" He questioned as he gave his student a once over. With the kid in such a panicked state, it wouldn't be good to hang around him for too long. Genos was going to drive him insane with his frantic rambling! He was just going to go back and wander around a few blocks. This Kagome-girl was likely to turn up sooner or later. Besides, after seeing what she did to that monster he didn't think there was any reason for either of them to worry. It was clear that she could handle herself.

Realizing that Saitama wouldn't have any idea what his girlfriend would have looked like, Genos pulled up his phone and flipped through the gallery. He stopped at one of his most favorite images. He had taken it on a trip to the beach. She was dressed in a simple white-knitted slip, with a matching sun hat and wedge heels. They had yet to go into the ocean so Kagome still had most of her clothes, unfortunately, still on. "That's Kagome." He thrusted the screen in his teacher's face, "If you see her please call me."

Saitama pushed the phone away a few inches to see the picture better. The glare from the setting sun was intense! His dark eyes narrowed. She was pretty cute but not his type. A little on the young side, though he shouldn't be surprised given Genos' age. He preferred his women to be a bit older. "Cute. Will do." He nodded, pushing away the phone. Sure he'd look for the girl but he wasn't about to go ravaging the town for her. That was Genos' job.

"I'll meet you back at the apartment later tonight. Thank you sensei." He offered his teacher another bow before taking off in a cloud of smoke.

Pausing to make sure Genos was indeed gone, Saitama released a whoosh of breath and rolled his shoulders, shifting at his feet. At last, he got some peace. With that Saitama meandered back home. Now, what to eat for dinner tonight? Udon or ramen?

The long walk home was quiet and uneventful. The scenery that went from the demolished apartment complex to a friendly sight of small Japanese houses in neat rows with nature among them, with few children playing out and about was a nice change of pace he decided. Not often he visited suburban areas, considering most monsters seemed to have avoided them like plagues for whatever reason or the other. He twitched at a kid when they rudely called him bald weirdo but did nothing, instead choosing to ignore them.

He should be home soon, crossing the border that separated Y City from Z City. The sight changed drastically from the peaceful streets of homely little houses to tall skyscrapers and colorless building complexes with a huge sign proclaiming, _Welcome to Z City!_ in bold, large font with smaller words set underneath that Saitama didn't bother reading.

Almost there, he assured himself, seeing the sun reaching closer to the horizon, blanketing all in an orange glow. Z City was still lively in spite of the recent meteor attack. It seemed that people had largely forgotten him, which he found was a relief. They stumbled around, the dawn of alcohol were upon them, with silly, goofy grins plastered on their faces, glad that they were able to quit their jobs for the day. Saitama shook his head, also glad that he didn't ended up following the work culture to drink nightly—alcohol wasn't his friend at all and found it distasteful.

Pacing near a familiar park with a large concrete wall wrapping around the green area, Saitama wondered if he would meet his quota should he see a drunken fight when he caught a sight.

There was a girl surrounded by a few large men, all far from being easy on the eyes. The girl though...Saitama squinted his eyes. She looked just like Genos' girl, that one, though wearing less clothes than he'd expect. He frowned, but figured that if she can nuke that grasshopper creature back in the previous city she can handle these jerkwads just as easily. That would be telling if that girl was indeed his disciple's chick. If it was not her then he could interfere and have it tacked on his quota of the week. Either way, it was worth a check.

"Hey sexy, where you going?" One hiccuped, swaying at his feet, but he grinned wide at the lithe girl with a meaty arm obstructing her way. The hand that was planted on the wall was larger than her own head!

His comment brought forth chuckles from his friends, causing her to sneer in disgust. His friend boasted, "Feel like providing some company, pretty girly?"

She ducked underneath the leader's arm, shifting her overstuffed backpack, "You all are welcome to go _fuck_ yourselves. I'm not interested." She flicked her hair, dismissing them while she pressed forward to whatever destination she had in mind.

This left the men chuckling louder, now lustier than before, "Aw don't be like that. We just want to have some fun!" She ignored them, making them clumsily stalk ahead after her, "Hey, where you going?" The girl gave no response, her expression impassive. Their faces now skewed with coiled redness of anger, the leader ran forward, shooting out an arm, "Get back here!"

It brought a frightening burst of speed, where the girl twisted at her feet, missing the arm brushing by her nose. Her glare was glowing bright and the reaction that followed was a painful one. Saitama watched with morose fascination as manicured nails clawed into the flesh and swung the leader fast.

The concrete cracked with the new decoration and she turned her head at his now shriving friends stilling at that scary look in her eyes. The drunkard daze was lifted from their expressions and they screamed and made to turn away to flee from the insane female. Unfortunately they didn't get far, when the wall was riddled with more human-shaped decorations.

Kagome, Saitama was very definitely sure it was her, dusted her hands with a huff.

"Nice job." The bald man couldn't resist applauding her strength. That was some terrifying use of her power there.

She lifted her head at his voice. Kagome turned her head straight at Saitama at a distance that was losing its gap with him approaching. She narrowed her eyes on him, clenching her backpack straps and her jaw set, "One of their friends?"

He shook his head, waving a hand to show he was friendly, "Nope. I'm just here to take you back to your boyfriend..." Saitama threw a thumb behind him, leading Kagome's sight to barely visible smoke in the reddening sky in the far distance, "who by the way is about to destroy a city looking for you."

Kagome blinked, and she slumped with relief, "I see, so you're his teacher, Sai...Sai something, right?"

Guess someone else tuned Genos out too, Saitama mused to himself, "Close, it's Saitama."

"Well, I didn't expect you to be...bald, Saitama-sama." Kagome blinked, in-taking his appearance. She expected Genos' sensei to be more...beefy, more scary-looking adorned with a long flowing hair and a cape (Genos mentioned a cape, didn't he?). Kagome certainly wasn't expecting someone scrawny-looking wearing stereotypical superhero outfit and having a shiny globe of head. He definitely did have a cape though.

Saitama twisted his face at her offhanded comment and crossed his arms, "What's wrong with me being bald?!"

"Nothing!" Kagome yelped, biting her tongue from laughing, "For all that Genos had described you, I had...a certain expectation of you, that's all!"

His face was red, "Why is it always about hair?!" Saitama roared, fighting hard not to stomp a crater, "You and Genos! Why do you all have to be on my baldness?! What's wrong with not having hair?!"

"Okay, okay!" Kagome chewed on the insides of her cheeks to keep herself from laughing at Saitama's misery, "I won't say anymore of your hair! Or the lack there of!"

"Thank you!" he huffed, "Now I will need to call your hair-obsessed boyfriend to let him know you're okay." He reached into his pocket for his phone, but a small hand stopped his wrist.

"I'd...appreciate if you don't for a bit." Kagome gave a sheepish laugh, pulling back her hand, "He can be rather... _handsy_." It wasn't the most accurate word to describe Genos, but she hoped Saitama would realize his _human_ capabilities by that word alone, "I'd rather be able to eat first before I see him again. Otherwise I won't be able to for the rest of the night." She sighed. Remembering her state of appearance, she tugged on her fizzy hair that was sprinkled with bits of that bug, "And maybe a bath."

Feeling his annoyance over his baldness' remarks dissolving away at her pathetic state Saitama blinked, "Well, if you say so...I'll just take you to my apartment I guess. I have bunch of ramen, udon, and stuff there." He scratched his nape, "Going to need to make them though."

Kagome frowned at the mentions of these cheap foods, now straying close behind Saitama when he started his trek toward his home, "Do you have any ingredients at all?"

Quirking a brow at her strange question, Saitama hummed, "Genos thought it prudent to stock my fridge full of eggs. I wasn't sure if he was being sincere or an ass though…"

Nearly stumbling over a crack in the sidewalk at his annoyed statement, Kagome righted herself with a giggle, "A bit of both?"

He twisted his feet to turn himself toward her, though he wasn't stopping his journey home, "Is he taking a crack at my baldness or something?"

"Maybe a little? He gets weird and has a dry sense of humor, especially if we're separated." Kagome admitted, bowing her spine to work out some kinks from carrying the heavy backpack around, "I'm usually the one that make jokes out of everything, so it's probably his defensive mechanism. For all I know anyway. It _is_ Genos." Genos was a bit of weird fella sometimes.

"Then the hell do I do with so many eggs?" Saitama shifted away, seeing a familiar silhouette of the abandoned section of where his home laid. He flipped his feet over some neglected debris, prompting his latest ward to do the same.

Kagome bounced from the large piece of asphalt, "I'll take care of them. I know a lot of recipes. Eggs too."

Saitama peered, passing the chain fence—the door had been ripped off by him some months ago, finding it an annoyance, "Are you offering to cook?" He hoped she wasn't a horrible chef.

"More than offering," she corrected, "I am insisting. It's the least I can do for having to deal with my idiot cyborg boyfriend as a roommate." Then Kagome paused, tugging on her hair, "And maybe a bath and some clothes washing." She furrowed her brows at her half-naked form, feeling a chilly breeze brushing past her bare ribs and she shivered—it was a reason why the drunkards came onto her in begins with, "That is if you don't mind."

The bald hero shrugged, "Sure, if your food is good." Good cooking, in his hindsight is always worth a good exchange.

Kagome grinned, taking his words as a challenge, "You won't be disappointed!"

Saitama hummed, a bit happy that he didn't have to cook, "Sound good then." His expression lit up, at the sight of his apartment building, "Ah, here we are!" He stumbled over small craters he forgot about and righted himself, tossing up a gesture to Kagome to warn her of the holes, "Watch your steps. These are from a monster from yesterday. Haven't gotten around fixing them." He apologized, though he didn't stop heading for the stair, much less looking back to the now-idling Kagome.

Kagome stared up at the building, not missing the sky had blackened and none of the windows were lit up. She frowned, a sense of emptiness boomed throughout her entire being when she realized the entire street were, indeed, abandoned. Empty of life, save for hers and Saitama's.

She was startled, her thoughts interrupted, "Heyyyy, you coming?" Saitama called out, pausing his position at the turn of the stair.

"Oh, yes, I'm coming, I'm coming!" Kagome hurried, hopping over the short series of holes to catch up with Saitama.

He fished for his keys, humming when she caught up easily, "Not much of a place, I know," Saitama shrugged, popping his key into the lock, "but it's cheap and clean. Mind the furniture though." The door swung open without his prompt. He went inside, flicking on the light, "First door you see is the bathroom, second is the kitchen. Feel free to use them." He threw a gesture, "and the door at the end is the living room slash bedroom."

Kagome didn't stop a wince at the size of the apartment, "This apartment is a _tad_ ," tad was an understatement, and she was feeling claustrophobic just for stepping inside, "too small to have a roommate, Saitama-sama." She was fortunate to have never lived inside an apartment of this size, since Genos liked to spoil her with some luxury.

"Yeah, I tried telling Genos that but," Saitama shrugged, "he was stubborn on making this arrangement work." He breezed past the first two doors, one of which lacked one for fire safety, toward the living room, "It worked out fine I guess. He does chores so it's not really a big deal."

Kagome huffed, typical Genos, "I see." She rolled her shoulders, before a green speck caught her eyes and she grimaced, "So, uh," Kagome tapped on the bathroom door, "would it be alright if I took a quick shower first? It's not sanitary if I cook like this."

Saitama halted his undressing his yellow jumpsuit, criticizing Kagome's state, "Yeah, be my guest. I'll watch some TV then." He wasn't hungry enough to eat some bug grime on his noodles.

Relieved, she bent at her waist, "Thank you. I'll make it quick." She promised, before disappearing inside the tiny bathroom.

Kagome eyed the size of the bathroom, before resigning with a deep breath. She dropped the backpack into the small space between the bathroom and the sink cabinet, intending to get ready for her shower, "Lets see...ah, there's the towels...No shampoo though." She cursed. She clicked open the door and poked her head out, her eyes catching Saitama lazing about in the living room.

Saitama was lying across the floor clad in a pair of pale blue pajamas. He lifted his foot to scratch at the inside of his other calf. Kagome peered her head around and stared at his back. She watched as his head slipped further down into the palm of his hand and his shirt rode up his torso a bit, exposing the skin of his side.

She opened her mouth, "Do you have any sham…" His head gleamed from the light of the television, "Never mind." Kagome clicked her teeth shut and then quietly closed the door. How did she forget that?

Saitama jolted awake, the sleepiness he felt waned and threw a look over the shoulder, "Huh?" Had she said something to him?

It was on days likes these that she wished Genos used a product that she could have as well. Stupid metal fiber hair!

 _So much for that_. Her hair isn't going to be pretty, but at least it would be clean and it's nothing a little elastic band couldn't fix. Pulling a spare dry towel from a bar rack upon the wall, she folded it across the cover of the toilet. Dropping to her knees she popped the straps of her bra, "Clothes, clothes..." She murmured, drawing the bag to her direction.

A nimble hand tugged on the tab and pulled it, invoking a loud unzipping sound, and the dusty-looking rolled fabrics spilling from the backpack. Kagome steadied them with a free hand, her eyes criticizing, "Damn, they don't really look that clean..." A green-streaked strand of her hair dropped in her line of vision, "...still cleaner than bug guts though." Her expressions fell into that of defeat, she dug through the content of her backpack, for appropriate attire for cooking. She huffed with a triumph, fishing out a large black t-shirt and a pair of boy shorts, both merely dusty and in need of some paddling.

With a quick trek to outside Saitama's apartment to do just that she gave the clothes another look over. She looked up and saw the skyline of the abandoned buildings. Kagome shivered at the lack of lights from any windows, save for Saitama's. It was creepy...but also lonely. She turned her attention back to the door left ajar and saw the globe of Saitama's head and frowned again. It became obvious to her that Saitama was isolating himself.

She slumped, tucking her clothes into her arms and made her way back to the bathroom, having made sure the entrance door was secured close.

Saitama must've heard the ruckus she made but never once looked back, absorbed by his television show.

With the somewhat clean clothes stacked underneath the towel Kagome rolled her shoulders, tugged her clothes loose and proceeded to take her shower.

With Saitama he was fighting of his sleepiness, hunger and that one constant thought that was brewing in his head, "Genos actually had a girl who actually managed to put up with his shit...?" Never mind the fact that Genos was essentially a robot, in which Saitama did not think one lick of. Instead he was having troubles grasping the fact that a _girl_ who could tolerant his ridiculous rambling and some other odd habits to the point of being his girlfriend who cared enough to apologize for Genos' behalf.

What a lucky bastard.

At some point his complaining brain had gone into the direction of, how did they meet and end up as a couple? It was a curiosity and now that he thought more about it, Saitama did recalled Genos mentioning her the first time he went into his long speech about himself.

" _Miraculously I survived, but just barely. If it wasn't for the love of my life, Kagome, my now girlfriend, who kept me at the brink of life until Doctor Kuseno came by, I would be dead. Doctor Kuseno was a doctor for justice..._

" _When you saved my life, as Kagome and Doctor Kuseno had once done, it increased my already heavy sense of responsibility..."_

Saitama was a bit impressed with himself that he could actually remember Genos' introduction tangent. Still...no wonder he was so fretful over the disappearance of Kagome. Not only was she his girlfriend, she saved his life too. That small bit of respect he felt for her before grew a little more. Though, he doubted that, that was how they first met.

He caught the sound of the bathroom door creaking open and Saitama turned his back to see Kagome stepping outside with her yellow bag. A black t-shirt practically swallowed her body whole, with her damp black hair curtaining a ring of wetness around her shoulders, "Give me a minute. I'll get started on your dinner soon." She gave an apologetic smile, "Trying to figure out where to put this thing..." Kagome lifted her backpack, with a sweeping turn of her attention searching for an open spot she could put it down on.

Saitama threw a finger to a corner inside his living room, "Put it there." He placed the hand back on his head, returning his gaze to his television.

"Ah, thank you." She murmured, her presence was so light Saitama didn't realize she was in his space until a yellow color caught the corner of his eyes earlier.

Kagome popped the elastic band onto her wrist before she took it off to gather together her hair. Knowing her hair she had to put it into a ponytail before it could frizzle and be turned into a disaster. She didn't even dry her hair all the way because of how it was.

Stepping inside the kitchen she murmured, tossing the towel on her head to prevent it from spoiling her cooking, "Okay, let's see..." With a quick wipe down of her hands she dove into the fridge and grabbed a carton, "Eggs, eggs...Oh good grief! Genos, how many did you buy?!" She recoiled at the sight of one shelf being taken over by cartons and cartons of eggs, before she shook off her shock, "...Oh I see ketchup and mayonnaise..." The said products were placed among side of various condiments and jars inside the shelves lining up within the door.

Saitama turned onto his back, blinking at Kagome fretting about and catching her muttering, "Noodles got to be good too...Gotta cook it though...Hmm, hmm. A pan and a pot...Eggs for this and noodles for that..." He sat up, staring owlishly at her confidence into her cooking, and there was a sound of running water, "Any salad oil? Ah ha! There it is!"

He was so enraptured by her energy that even the sizzles sounded like music to him, "What are you making?" Saitama couldn't hold back his curious tongue. It was starting to smell so good.

"Fried noodles-stuffed omelet*!" Kagome chirped, "I figured it'd be okay to go for that since you have so many eggs...What's better way to use a lot of eggs with minimal ingredients than good ol' stuffed omelets?" She grinned at Saitama through the opening, "...you don't mind stuffed omelets do you?" Kagome gave a tiniest downturn of a frown, stilling her motions.

Saitama shook his head so quick he gave himself a small headache, "No, no! I like them fine! It smells so good too..." He stopped himself when he felt a small bit of drool coming out of his mouth.

Kagome giggled, relieved that she made a decent pick of the night, "Oh that's good. I know it's not something people makes at home but I like making them!" She paused with a considering thought, "Then again, I liked cooking a lot of things." Grabbing a utensil she stirred the noodles, an embarrassed undertone swept into her voice, "I don't know how my cooking is, I've only cooked for two people and myself." Kagome admitted, clanging the spatula against the lip of the pot, "I don't really have any unbiased reviews either, so I hope you'll like them."

Saitama blinked, though a bit annoyed that Kagome apparently picked up similar habit as Genos for rambling, "Two people?"

"Genos and Doctor Kuseno." She rolled over the egg over the handful of noodles in its center.

"Ah," Saitama inhaled the delicious scent, "well I don't mind trying your cooking. So far it's got a pretty good impression."

She grabbed a plate from the overhanging rack, biting back her pride from gleaming out, "Almost done! I'll need to make one for myself and Genos whenever he gets here..." Kagome murmured. At least she already cooked plenty of noodles to spare, "If you want more, please let me know!" She transferred over her near completed work neatly onto the plate from the saucepan and placed it down on the counter-top, to finish it off with generous amount of twisting lines of ketchup and mayonnaise, "Tadah!" She showed it off to Saitama.

Saitama perked up at this and waited eagerly for his meal by taking his spot at the table. Kagome delivered it to the table with a set of chopsticks and a napkin. He grinned, " _Itadakimasu_.*" Saitama bowed to Kagome, expressing his thanks.

She smiled in turn, before a realization dawned on her, "Oh, shoot, I forgot to make you some tea!" Kagome slumped, bumping a fist into her temple, "Sorry, Saitama-sama. I totally forgot..."

"Nah, nah, it's okay." Saitama tore a piece of the omelet off, "I don't mind a cup of water." He bit into it and Kagome awaited his response, her hands twisting at her elbows. His eyes widened and she paled, fearing for her cooking skills. Silence stretched between them.

"Saitama-sama...?" The oven was still on and she was becoming afraid for Saitama's life.

Before she knew it he inhaled the entire meal. Kagome stared at the empty plate wide-eyed when it hovered before her face, "More please?" Saitama looked very... _pleased_ , "It was very delicious."

"You..." Kagome coughed into a sputtering fit, "just beat Genos..." She took the plate, red-faced, "Um, excuse me. Second and third helpings for everybody I guess?" Kagome whispered, uncertain on what just occurred a moment prior.

"It was really good!" Saitama was star-struck. He could see why Genos was so protective over her now. Her cooking was _godly_! "Did you do anything different to it? I had stuffed omelets before, but yours are out of this world!"

Muffling her giggle, she slipped in a small smile, "Not really. I just followed the recipes and played with the amount of each ingredient," Kagome gave a visible shrug, "Though it's always best to have more ingredients on hand. That way you can add your own 'flair' into the meal." She placed a hand on her hip and pointed her finger as if she were speaking a great secret to him, "Think of cooking as an expression of yourself. There are certain ingredients that people like to use. Take pancakes for example. I prefer to use vanilla and almond extract in the batter. It enriches the flavor while giving it a very distinct 'fingerprint' that only I have done." She smirked a little bit, "You have to play with how flavors taste together. Took a while but I think I finally managed to find a balance between certain mixtures for my pancakes."

"I want your pancakes." Saitama murmured absently.

She turned around and gave him a genuine smile, happy that someone else outside of Doctor Kuseno and Genos enjoyed her cooking. "Give me a few minutes. I'll make some more." She spotted the teapot from its spot inside the drying rack, "I'll make the tea too!"

"Yes, yes, that will be nice." He decided he wanted her over as much as possible, to cook for him. Shouldn't be too hard considering she was Genos' girlfriend. Speaking of which, Saitama frowned, remembering how often Genos would try to cook meals for him, "You'd think Genos would have learned from you...but his cooking is just," he twisted his face into that of disgust and shuddered at the memory of the last meal Genos made, "I don't even know how to word it!" The cyborg's cooking was eligible, but a bit hard to stomach, to say at least.

Kagome gave a hissing sound of wince, "Yeah, there's a pretty good reason why I banned him from the kitchen." There was an audible sound of triple crack of eggs, "I'm so sorry you went through Genos' cooking, Saitama-sama. He meant well!"

Saitama snorted. She wasn't wrong though. Genos had good intentions, but he was simply lousy with all things spices...especially salt and pepper. "I'm still alive, that's all that matters." Kagome chuckled at that before continuing on her effort to produce more helpings for him.

Relaxing his hunches he admired Kagome's fluidity in the kitchen, "Say," Saitama felt a want to keep her as his personal chef as often as possible and made a mental checklist for good ingredients at great bargain for her to use, "what's good, cheap recipes with eggs? There's going to be a sale in few days at my supermarket."

Kagome hummed, "I wouldn't know about bargains since Genos usually is the one that buys the ingredients at my request," she admitted, now clamping some noodles onto the omelet while racking her mind for the recipes, "but, chicken, bonito soup stock, soy sauce, sweet sake, potato starch, garlic chives, sesame oil, dried hijiki...uhhh, what else for eggs..." She pondered aloud, "soybeans...demi-glace sauce...Hmmm, hmm..." Kagome folded the omelet, "I don't remember much else, if we were to want to keep the egg recipes simple. There's more, if you want to try more complicated recipes. These take longer though."

Saitama noted all of these ingredients before nodding, "I think I have some of them. I'll look for the rest if they're on sale." He tilted his head backward, "Interesting and these are from the top of your head?"

"Well, yes. I can't deny it's fun to make a twist with common recipes!" Kagome grinned, before becoming distracted, propping the latest work to a plate, "Ah, that one's done...four more to go..."

And then there became a comfortable silence between the two of them.

* * *

He didn't like giving up. He _loathed_ giving up, but his Kagome wasn't anywhere in sight. And his sensei hadn't called!

But there was no other option but to turn back to his sensei's apartment. Perhaps he was right, Kagome may have been circling around his area, looking for him. If that was the case though shouldn't Saitama have found her by now and contacted him?

A sudden chill took over. Oh no...what if something happened to Kagome and she couldn't defend herself?!

He quickly pulled out his phone and dialed his sensei's number. It rang thrice before the bald man managed to pick it up.

"Sensei! Have you seen her?" He interrogated frantically.

There were shifts of noises and an exasperated sigh. He was going to press for more answers when an all too familiar voice came in through the mouth piece, "I'm just fine Genos. I only arrived her a little while ago. I've made dinner so why don't you come on back home?" There was a pause as he heard shuffle with a few items. "Oh and please stop burning down the town. I don't think that's a very becoming thing to do, especially if you want to seek justice." Kagome teased.

For the first time Genos turned around to survey the damage he'd done in his panicked state. Buildings were scorched and plant life burned brilliantly against the scarlet sky. Black plumes of smoke rose from the ground high into the air. He felt a sweat dropping from his temple.

He wanted to pretend the destruction wasn't caused by him, but his morality would eat him alive and he didn't wish to disappoint his girlfriend _and_ sensei, "Fine, but first I have to fix the damage I caused. I'll see you when I get home." He hung up the phone after hearing a gentle confirmation falling from those beloved lips of hers. Golden eyes glared at the mess laid before him. Well this sucked.

And he wanted to run right into Kagome's arms too...

* * *

Saitama chewed on the last piece of his meal, eyeing Genos' waiting plate. Oh but he wanted more! With a huff well aware he was asking enough from Kagome as it is, he dropped his chopsticks on his own plate and clapping his hands, "Thanks for the meal, Kagome-san."

She grinned at his gratitude, pausing the hand that was rising to her mouth, "Not a problem! Been a while since I've cooked something like this." Grabbing the bite from the chopsticks, she began to pick apart her dinner, "'side it's the least I can do for housing Genos, as I've said before."

He waved it off, "Naa, naa, it's nice to have some company," Saitama admitted, "his motor mouth can put me to sleep." He stopped the smile from brightening his expression when he heard Kagome giggling.

"He _does_ talk a lot, doesn't he?" She couldn't prevent the apologetic tone from steeping in, "Genos was always like that though..." Kagome's thought wandered away as she pulled another piece from her eggs.

"Hm," Saitama decided he didn't much like the silence stretching from between him and his latest guest, "how did you two meet anyway?"

She stilled at his question, her meal all mushy and soft in her mouth laying across her tongue with that disgusting sensation she couldn't even begin to describe, before remembering to shallow it whole with an audible gulp. Kagome laid across her chopsticks upon the plate, carefully arranging it so to not touch her still warm eggs. She then folded her hands upon her laps, while pulling in her bottom lips, lost on how to answer Saitama's question, "Umm, well..."

He rubbed his head, sensing that perhaps it wasn't a question to ask, when silence stretched just a tad too long from her, "Eh, well, don't worry abou-"

"No, no, it's fine," Kagome stopped him from backpedaling, and resigned with a sigh, "it's just that I'm not even sure how to explain it, Saitama-san."

"Eh?" Saitama blinked, "What was so complicated about it? Didn't Genos mention at some point that you two were childhood friends or something?" He was surprised he even remembered that tad bit, a bit reeling at himself.

Kagome nodded, "Hm, yes, that is...right, yes." Her shoulders bent with invisible weight, "That's...the problem. I...actually don't remember that."

"Eh?" He must've sounded dumb with another 'eh' twice in a row, "Say what now?"

She laughed weakly, clapping her hands together, in a poor excuse to lighten the atmosphere she'd caused, "It's sad, isn't it? I have amnesia!"

Saitama blinked again, his face so plain Kagome couldn't distinguish any telling emotion from him, "...well that sucks. You," he picked up his cup and sipped the tea Kagome finally made at last minute for him, with indescribable grace, just a drop slipping in between his lips, "don't remember anything at all?"

"I..." she gave a defeated shake of her head, "No, nothing going past four years. It's weird, isn't it?" Kagome poked at her eggs, or what little of it left, "Genos had a ton of pictures of us as little kids though, and I can... _kind of_ remembered what he liked and didn't like, before he...well," she peered up, still seeing that same disturbingly calm face, "you know, lost his body." Her appetite lost, she pushed the plate away a few inches, "Doctor thinks it was the trauma of the loss of my entire family that caused it, but I still couldn't remember anything before that tragedy four years ago."

Saitama sipped his tea again, not really tasting the grand effort Kagome had placed into it, and thought, _oh brother a sob story_. It wasn't something new to him, having many strangers, Genos included, spilling their sad tales to him out of blue—someone who couldn't be anymore care less. But the lacking emotions behind these words didn't meet what he felt inside his chest. _Pity_.It was first emotion he had felt in a long time, and Saitama found it bothering him. He didn't know if he should be glad that he wasn't an empty husk of a human being like he expected, or guilty that that tingle of an emotion was spun by this small girl who was only a few years his junior.

He softly returned his cup, and glanced up, "I'm sorry." Saitama simply said. There was nothing else he could have offered.

Kagome shook her head again, smiling a little, "It's alright. Genos took real good care of me." She giggled, her face flushing a touch of pink at the thought of her boyfriend, "It's weird, but he was in love with me since forever and I just never knew until two years ago."

"Oh?" Gladdened that Kagome didn't have that air of melancholy floating around her like a pregnant rain cloud, Saitama opted to let her continue, "Genos didn't strike me as a..." he cocked his head in thought, "a lovey dovey material?"

"You wouldn't be more wrong." Kagome grinned over her cup, the tea warming her hands and lips, "He always was a bit on the quiet side, but he was a very devoted character. Guess that bit him in the butt since I gave him a lot of hell, back then, apparently!" She gave an embarrassed choke at the recent memory of Genos bemoaning her oblivious nature spanning all the way back to her early childhood.

Saitama really couldn't visualize Genos being any less than serious, and found himself curious, "Really?"

She dropped her head into an enthusiastic nod, "Yup! I was soooo clueless too, now that I think of it!" Kagome snorted into her drink, "So, there were a lot of hi-jinks between us back then—and Genos was—and is, the jealous type."

"Seriously? He never came across that way to me." He mumbled, again finding himself wondering if he should be interested or not. Spotting Kagome's unfinished plate, he dropped a finger to it, "Can I finish that?"

Kagome raised an brow, "Uhh, sure, I guess." She slid it towards Saitama, ignoring that twinge of discomfort at sharing her germs with a stranger—but it would be wasting food otherwise. "Oh, yeah, he does a pretty good job being all serious and intimidating—," at that she paused, reaching her conclusion and nodded, "and I guess he is both serious and intimidating." Rubbing her arms together and rested them on the table, she gave away a soft laugh as Saitama devoured the rest of her supper, "But with me he is sweet as can be, you know? Spoil me rotten with things I didn't really need, but appreciated."

 _Genos is a sugar daddy?_ Saitama had to stop a chortle at imagining Genos wearing a pimp hat and purple leopard-furred coat. It was a ridiculous imagery and now it couldn't leave his head. With his formidable will he shut that picture up for another day when he need the most cheering up.

It wasn't like it wasn't inappropriate either—Genos did have money after all.

"How did you two actually officially ended up together anyway?" Anything to lock that image up, Saitama decided that listening to the girl chattering on was the better option than dealing with the silence.

At that Kagome pressed a side of her face into her hand, complementing the question, "Hmm, well, it was because of his jealousy, you can say, that opened up my eyes to his feelings for me." She shifted to her tea, to warm her hand, "I went out on a date with some cute guy I met and Genos didn't take it so well." She moved her legs to a more comfortable pose, and tugged on the shirt, frowning at the speck of dust still on it, "Apparently the dude was going to grope me-"

Saitama quirked a brow, sipping his tea, "Does that happen a lot?" Kagome was definitely not his type, but still, she was attractive enough to warrant the undesirable traits from men. He was sad to say he wasn't surprised with those who shared the same gender as he.

"...Yes." She admitted, realizing Saitama wasn't blind to her ongoing dilemma, "Had that happening to me fairly recently too." Kagome added, feeling a bit hot over that weird ninja wanna-be groping her breast. Not wanting to stew on that particular foul memory any longer than she wanted, she reflected the subject back to her reiterating her tale, "Anyway...Genos stopped him and then chased him off."

"Chased him off?" Saitama blinked, "How so?" He had a feeling he knew where this is going...

Kagome gave him a deadpanned stare, "He practically burned down the mall and threatened to tear his balls off and force feed it down the his throat." She cleared her throat, remembering just how annoyed she was at him for ruining yet another one of her dates.

"Oh." He murmured into his drink, not at all surprised somehow.

"Yeah, oh." She sighed, not at all disturbed. Kagome shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly, "Initially I was furious. I wanted to know what his problem was but then he told me pointblank." A smile spread across her lips as she stared into the green-dyed liquid of her tea, "He just pulled me aside to the ice cream cafe and said, 'I love you'. It was pretty out of blue to me but after that everything started to make sense."

Saitama decided he much liked hearing her chattering—it was much more pleasant than he'd assumed, having experienced the annoying screeching of typical high school girls back in his school days, "Sounds like romance."

She nearly snorted her nose off, "Not at first! I still gave him hell!" Kagome sniggered at her memories of multiple incidents, "We weren't official right off the bat. I still had to sort out how I felt about him, being, you know, the way he is." Saitama didn't miss the implications of Genos being a cyborg, and nodded his head to her to continue, "Genos put on a lot of shows.

"Genos put in a lot of effort. He became flashy, a bit..." Kagome stopped at that and shook her head, "Okay, pretty overbearing and generally intrusive. He was trying so hard to prove that he was good boyfriend material." She sighed lightly, "I love him dearly but during that time it became a bit too much. Eventually when he stopped feeling threatened by every little thing he was able to settle down a bit and that's how we first started dating." She curled her wrists, watching the way the liquid within her cup would roll from one side to the other serenely. Kagome laughed a bit, realizing she was probably over-reminiscing. But Saitama didn't seem to mind her rambling—probably a habit she had unfortunately borrowed from Genos.

"It's kind of funny really. It'd taken him nearly destroying a mall, killing a man and then prancing around like peacock for me to notice him." She grinned as she waved her hands in the air. "I didn't use to believe him when he told me that I was oblivious until he recounted how we got together. Now I think I might have to agree." She bent over to the amused Saitama with a hand over her mouth and whispered scandalously, "But you can't tell him that. He'd never let me live it down."

At that Saitama snorted, poorly concealing the hilarity he felt at Genos' expense, and made an imaginary cross over his chest with a finger, "Scout's honor."

Kagome huffed, "Ya better." But she said it with a grin.

"So, ever since then you two are a happy couple?" Saitama hummed, biting down that small spark of envy he felt bubbling up in his chest.

She hummed, nodding with her damp hair bouncing along with her, "Yup! ...Minus some recent bumps in the road." Kagome sighed.

He didn't miss the implications, and huffed, "Why in the world did he move out? Makes no sense..." Saitama muttered, but he wasn't fishing for answers. He noticed how cluttered the table was, missing the flash of pain from her eyes at his comment, "Aa, I should wash up." He had no clue how long it would take for Genos to pop back up.

"Oh, no, it's okay! I can do that!" Kagome lunged over the empty plates, but Saitama batted away her hands.

He fixed her a glare, "No, it's the rule of my house—whoever made the food, rests, and whoever ate the food, should wash up."

She huffed, but sat back down in her mat, crossing her arms, "Oh fine, captain—" Kagome almost said baldy and Saitama set her down with a glare, daring her to continue, immediately correcting herself, "Captain..." she finished weakly.

Saitama scoffed at her poor attempt, "Good thinking." He dropped a finger at that, before gathering together the empty plates, dirty disposable chopsticks, and took his own cup with. With a grace Kagome envied he rose to his feet and turned to his kitchen from the hallway. He left only Genos' barely warm plate alone, piled with the omelets with a still-packed chopsticks.

Kagome can hear the water running, and some noisy cluttering of the glass. She was content to just let the silence to settle between them, but it seemed that Saitama had thought otherwise.

"So, you lost your apartment, right?" Kagome winced at his question, something that he actually missed this time over his latest chore.

Exhaling a huge breath of air, she wasn't sure how to answer, "I...I don't have any idea. I don't have any money to get another place." She relaxed on the floor, with her hands holding up her weight, "I was hoping Genos...could help me this time." Kagome had a strange feeling she knew what would his answer be—but how would that work? There was no space!

"That's a bummer," Saitama murmured, switching off the running faucet, "I'm sure you'll figure something out." He shook his hands, flickering water off of it as he let the plates to soak with the egg-caked skillet, before he wiped them down on his shirt. He was too lazy to fetch a towel.

She chewed on her lips, "So, would it be alright if—"

 _THUD THUD THUD SKIDDDDDD CRASH_

Kagome clasped her face, and drew out a sigh, "Ooooh boy." There was no way she didn't recognize the faraway sounds. Saitama simply stared at the door, after arriving to his living room.

 _THUD THUD CRASHHHH SKIDDDD_

"Kagome!" The door banged open, leaving a crack in the adjacent wall, to the huffing Genos.

He stilled, his eyes locking onto his girlfriend's form.

"Kagome!" Genos cried out. He shot across the apartment so quickly that she was nearly thrown off balance when his arms circled around her waist, "Thank goodness!" He sighed into her neck. His fingers gripped into the fabric of her shirt tighter. He lifted his face and roughly slammed his lips against hers.

Her eyes widened. She tried not to get too carried away as she could still see Saitama's displeased expression peering at them from over Genos' shoulder. Kagome pushed her hands against her boyfriend's shoulders, "I don't thinnnkkk this is a good idea right now..." She looked between him and Saitama.

Genos paused as the realization clicked and he nearly flustered.

"Oh…"

After prostrating himself before Saitama with endless counts of apologies for such a public display of affection, Genos had proceeded to devour his cold meal—in spite of Kagome's protests to microwave it first—to allow Saitama to relax a bit after the scene he'd caused.

"Are you going to fix that hole in the wall?" Saitama complained, unable to ignore the great big crack that now decorated his hallway.

Genos stopped the shame from overtaking his expression, channeling it into a hand he used to flex one of Kagome's thighs—being kept underneath the table from Saitama's sight, "Yes, sensei, I will remedy it shortly."

He huffed, "Good." Saitama dropped back down to his spot, now fumbling with a remote control with his face clearly showing his thinking process. He was considering watching his television, rather than to be bothered with the couple that now overtook his home.

Genos and Kagome's eyes met, and he gave a silent nod at her furrowing brows. He inhaled, and for the first time in a long while, he felt nervous, "Sensei!"

Saitama scratched the itch on his head, wishing again Genos wouldn't call him sensei—such an annoying title to have, "Yeah?"

"Would you consider having Kagome staying with us for a time being?"

He blinked, "Was there any other choice? It's not my place to kick her out when she's got nowhere else to go." His eyes then narrowed, not missing where one of Genos' arms had been, "However I _do_ have a few specific rules."

There was a sense of doom Genos didn't like, as he awaited for his sensei to name these rules.

"No dirty monkey dances in _my_ home!" Saitama was flustered red with his announcement. Ah there was that stab in Genos' mechanical heart, while Kagome looked suspiciously relieved, "And I absolutely do not want to see anyone _naked_!" He pointed to his floor, emphasizing his apartment, "I know I've a tiny home, but it's still no excuse!"

Before Genos could open his mouth, Saitama was quick to shoot down his hopes and dreams, "And when I said _no_ dirty monkey dances, that is _also_ including my bathroom! So, take your dirty monkey dances _out_ of my apartment!"

Genos picked up a hand to squint his pointer finger and thumb together, "Not even—?"

"Not even a little!" He retorted, "Not even down the hallway!" Saitama threw his hand over to his door, still with the evidence of Genos' most recent damages.

Disappointment slammed into his heart like an anvil and Genos mumbled, tipping at his waist, at which Kagome copied to express her gratitude, "Understood. We will aside your rules. Thank you, sensei."

"And, I do expect Kagome will be the one cooking during her duration of stay." Saitama added, picking at his teeth with a toothpick he had on hand, "If the lady don't mind?" He paused his teeth cleaning and raised a brow at Kagome, who blinked at his response.

She nodded, surprised, while ignoring Genos' molesting her leg, "Sure, I can do that. It's the least I can do." It had been a while since she had cooked on daily basis...what with their 'errands' and all.

Saitama clapped his hands, now pleased with the easy agreements, "Great! Now, I'm going to settle in for the night. You guys can go talk or something, I dunno. We'll figure out the rest tomorrow." He turned away and flapped a hand, finally clicking on his television to resume his catching up on his show.

All Genos could do was to pout in Kagome's neck after he dragged her onto his lap, encircling his arms around her form into a tight embrace. He had not once spoiled his emotions outside of this, that Saitama could hear. While Kagome discreetly rolled her eyes and absently patted his arms, sighing, "I missed you too."

* * *

They were shifting through Kagome's bag, so to pull her clothes aside for Genos to wash at a later date, when they ran into a familiar, bulky object. Genos fished it out, and held it for a long moment. Kagome shook her head at him, but continued shifting through her bag.

Genos stared at the box in his hands.

"It survived?"

She shrugged, folding a brightly-colored shirt down on her lap, "For the most part. The pirate one is gone though. Got busted up a bit."

He shook the container lightly, hearing the distinct sounds of metal pieces shaking together. "I'll look at it tomorrow." Genos placed it next to the basket that was quickly becoming filled up with the dirty laundry.

She rolled her shoulders from stiffness she felt, "Good because I'm tired and need to sleep." Kagome gave her boyfriend a pointed glare when she noticed his eyes lit up, "Real sleep. Not your version of sleep." Besides, they were banned from doing the 'dirty monkey dances' as Saitama so crudely put it, in the close precinct of his apartment. Pressing together her thighs she had to stop a wince when something still burned from the inside of her loins—carpet burns, gotta love it!

Saitama, who had apparently been forgotten during the whole conversation, slapped a hand to his forehead. Why'd he have to take in a couple of horny teenagers? This world was a cruel one.

—End of Chapter 4

* * *

*12000 yens=about $100, Don't forget, this fanfiction operates on Japanese yen, not American money. Six digits are still about hundreds to 4-digited thousands in American money, (ex. 100,000 Yen equals to 820.48 American Dollar) which is typically _not_ enough to afford a half-decent place—assuming OPM's Earth operates in similar fashions like Japan. Probably higher if fewer monsters/villains frequent through the area of chosen residence. Poor Kagome had a bad run of luck here.

*Otherwise known as _Omu-yakisoba_ in Japanese! It's pretty basic as far as ingredients goes. You'd just use 3 eggs and fried noodles (though I'm not sure which kind of fried noodles, I think yakisoba?) done with salad/vegetable oil and finished it off with two lines of ketchup and mayonnaise. It's not done often at home, but instead are more popular with restaurants and street stalls. I don't think I'm accurate with cooking this in this story, so do feel free to correct me.

* _Before eating, Japanese people say "itadakimasu," a polite phrase meaning "I receive this food." This expresses thanks to whoever worked to prepare the food in the meal._ (cited: web-japan dot org)

All of the recipes I've found for simple Japanese egg recipes are here: (j-simplerecipes dot com)

* * *

A/N: Ahhhhhh, I'm so sorry for the super late update! I had been so unmotivated lately. Hopefully a long chapter would make up for it. Sorry it was so dialogue-heavy though, but an necessary evil to pave a way to the next chapter!

Oh geez, I had this one sitting on my laptops for a very long time now, because I was so distracted with life and welllll... _Consequences_ , my latest work. It's Young JusticexInuYasha crossover fanfiction, if you're curious. I've been experimenting with my writing with it, and well, I've noticed that in this particular fanfiction, there's a big change in how I write now from 6 months before. So, uh, whoops? If it read differently when you reached after Genos getting the phone call from Saitama and Kagome scene, then that's probably why.

I didn't really feel up to task of editing it all—this is one absolute monster chapter! X.x I may come back to that one day, but no promises. Anyway, please **review** and let me know what you think of this update!

Ps: Sorry about the delay, it was supposed to be up a while ago, but my beta reader took a vacation and I wanted to wait so _Ordinary_ can be half-decent for you guys.

Pps: Visit me at tumblr for sneak peeks and dumb posts if you want. My URL is **daoxlor** (though if you remembered my old one, beautiful-phantom, it should still redirect you there anyway).

Pps: Consider this as my early bday gift to you all, guys! :)


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